The Rollins College Tars (19-9) held Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year Marcus Ruh to just two points and dominated on the defensive end for the second straight day in a 62-53 upset of top seeded Saint Leo in the SSC Semifinals at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee,Fla.
Mitch Woods led the Tars attack with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Chris Uhle was big from the 3-point line for the Tars, hitting four of eight en route to his 13 points. Kyle McClanahan added 12 points, while Dave Diakite netted 11 points to go along with nine rebounds in the victory for the Tars that highly boosted there tournament resume.
Saint Leo fell to 21-7 on the year. The co-SSC champions with Florida Southern were led by a 21 point effort from Trent Thomas. Jerrel Harris chipped in 11 for the Lions.
The Tars shot 40 percent (17-42) from the field on the day. The Lions shot 32 percent (18-55 from the field) and went 10-36 from three.
Rollins won the rebounding battle 36-28.
In the previous two meetings (both won by St.Leo) the Tars found themselves in a early hole and could not dig out of it. Saturday it was the Tars that got off to the quick start and behind a pair of Uhle 3-pointers took a 16-6 lead midway thru the opening half.
Leo would answer with a 12-0 run and take a 18-16 lead two minutes later. The lead would change hands three more times and the game would be knotted at 26 at halftime.
Leo would take advantage of a cold shooting Tars team to begin the second half and open up a six point lead (34-28.) The Tars missed six straight attempts from the floor to begin the half. The Tars would answer right back as a Scott Schuette three would cap a 14-3 run that gave the Tars a 42-37 lead with 9:46 remaining.
Saint Leo would get it down to a one possession game on a pair of occasions but the Tars defense would get big stops in both situations. The next two minutes saw the Tars continue to play stifling defense and stretch the lead to 11. The huge win for Rollins all but assured them a spot in the NCAA South Regional, but they can take the league's automatic bid with a win over second seeded Florida Southern on Sunday. The Tars have made 10 trips to the championship game, winning four. The last being a 75-65 win over Eckerd in the finals two years ago. The Tars have lost both meeting to Florida Southern this season.
Sunday's Final:
#5 Rollins (19-9) vs #2 Florida Southern (23-5) 3:30 PM
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