For the second consecutive season the Warner Royals came into Warden Arena and stole a early season win from the Rollins Tars. This time it was a 66-64 overtime win for the Royals.
Former Rollins assistant Shawn Hanrahan brought his undersized group in ready to play. Hanrahan who was an assistant back when the Tars went all the way into the elite eight in 2004 brought in a team that did not have a player taller than six foot six. He often played with a small lineup that did not have a player over six foot two in the group.
The Tars (1-3) raced out to a 27-12 lead in the game's first ten minutes and looked to be cruising to a second straight win. Then the ball stopped moving,the 3-pointer's kept missing and the Tars had themselves a problem. At the half, it would be 30-21 Tars.
The Royals (2-3)would come out in the second half and would battle back to take a 40-38 lead on a Rice three with 11:04 to go. It would go back and forth for the next several minutes. The Tars would go on a 7-0 run and lead 45-40 with six minutes left. Adam Allen would bank in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Tars a 51-48 lead, only to see Warner answer with a three of their own to tie it. A left handed runner by Blessig would give the Tars a 53-51 advantage with 1:23 to go. After a Tanner Connor lay up would tie it at 53. The Tars would regain the lead on a Dirkin three. The Royals would answer with a deep three that would tie it with 37 second left. The Tars would have a chance to win it in regulation but Mitch Woods' seventeen footer would be off the mark and the game would head into OT.
The Royals would take command late in OT. They would lead by five with less than a minute to go. The Tars would have one last push. After a Chris Uhle three with 55 seconds left would cut the Royals lead to two. Rice would hit a huge bucket that extended the Royals lead and looked to put the game away with 27 seconds. The Tars would see Uhle miss a three, but the ball went out of bounds to the Tars down four with 19 seconds left. A corner three by Dirkin would not fall, Blessig would hit there runner with the left hand with five seconds to cut the lead to two. On the ensuing inbounds the Tars would get the steal only to see Dirkin miss the layup as time expired.
Alex Blessig led the Tars with a career high 14 points. He also added nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Adam Allen chipped in 14 points to go along with eight boards. Chris Uhle and Mitch Woods netted nine each. Uhle also had 11 rebounds. The Tars shot 37 percent from the field in the evening. They could not find the range from the 3-point line hitting 24 percent (9-37.) The Tars out rebounded Warner 46-37 and had 18 assists to go with 12 turnovers. They were just 5-11 at the foul line.
The Royals were led by Jason Pospichal. He had a game high 22 points off the bench, making six of 13 from the 3-point line. Mitch Rice added sixteen and Lartero Shaw chipped in 10. Warner shot 39 percent from the floor. They were 11-30 from the 3-point line. That included a 50 percent clip (7-14) in the second half. The Royals shot 79 percent at the foul line (11-14.) They had 18 assists and 14 turnovers.
The Tars will be back in action Friday and Saturday. They will head to the Saint Leo tournament where they will face sixth ranked South Carolina Aiken Friday at 5 PM. Then they will face Virginia Union Saturday at 2 PM. As always you can catch all the action on 91.5 FM WPRK and worldwide at RollinsSports.com
No comments:
Post a Comment