Tars Stun Southern!

Often times in the game of basketball it is said that in a rivalry game the records can be thrown out the window. The Rollins Tars made sure that this was the case on Wednesday night at Warden Arena. The Tars came away with a stunning 82-76 win in overtime in front of the biggest crowd in 10 years at Warden Arena. After trailing by seven with 1:46 to go in regulation.
  Rollins (9-9 3-5 SSC) was paced by a career high tying 26 points from Mitch Woods.  Woods was 10 of 11 at the foul line, including six of six in the OT.  Adam Allen came up with four big 3-pointer's in five attempts on his way to scoring 17.  Chris Uhle added 11 points, including what turned out to be the game winning 3-pointer in overtime.  Jeff Dirkin also had a solid game with eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots.
  The Tars shot 53 percent (27-51) from the field.  They were on fire all night from the 3-point line where they shot 57 percent (12-21.)  Rollins shot at a 70 percent clip from the free throw line (16-23.)  Rollins had 14 assists and 15 turnovers.
  The second ranked Moccasins (18-1 7-1 SSC) were led by a  23 point effort from Kevin Capers.  He was joined in double figures by Tyler Kelly with 17- and- Garrett Putman with 10.  Frank Adams also had a solid game with seven points and 11 rebounds.
  The Tars got a 3-pointer from Uhle on the first trip of the game and would set the tone for the evening.  The Tars nationally ranked defense would get the better of the Mocs nationally ranked offense for the next 13 minutes.  Alex Blessig would nail a three to give Rollins a 18-17 lead with just under six minutes to go in the half.  The Mocs would then go on a 13-0 spurt to take a 12 point lead (30-18) with 3:35 in the half.  The Tars would answer with a 10-2 spurt capped by a Woods 3-pointer and would trail by four (32-28) at the intermission.
  The Tars would come out with plenty of energy in the second half and a 3-pointer by Dirkin from the corner  would give them a one point lead (38-37.)   They would stretch that lead to four (47-43) with 13:19 left on the clock.
  Both teams would go cold for the next four minutes and the Tars would stretch the lead to five (48-43) on a Trip McFall free throw at the 9:32 mark.  The Tars lead would be six (54-48) on a Scott Schuette 3-pointer at the 6:40 mark.
  Once again the Mocs would respond with a 12-0 spurt and take a six point lead (60-54) with 4:26 to go. FSC would stretch the lead to seven (64-57) with 1:46 left but the Tars would scratch and claw there way back.
  Dirkin would nail a 3-pointer and Woods would get a steal and dunk to cut the Mocs lead to two (64-62.) After a couple of defensive stops on each end the Tars would get a huge bucket from Alex Blessig to tie it with 15 seconds left and he would have a free throw to take the lead with 15 seconds. Blessig who shoots 90+ percent on the year at the line could not convert the free throw.  The Tars defense would force a long 3-pointer by Capers to force overtime.
  FSC would once again jump out and take the lead in the OT but the Tars would battle back.  After a steal at one end of the court after checking back into the game Uhle would nail a 3-pointer that would prove to be the game winner with 45 seconds left.  Woods would stretch the lead to four (78-74) on a pair of free throws. The lead would be cut back to two on a Frank Adams hoop. The Tars would "ice it" with free throws late as many in the crowd of 1765 would storm the court as time expired.
  FSC would shoot 40 percent (29-73) for the game. The Mocs shot just 24 percent (8-34) from the 3-point line. They also shot just 63 percent (10-16) at the free throw line.  FSC out rebounded the Tars 42-35.  They had 18 assists and 11 turnovers.
  The Tars will be back in action Saturday at 4 PM when they take on St.Leo at the Marion Bowman Activities Center.  You can catch all the action on the Tars Sports network at RollinsSports.com and on 91.5 FM WPRK Winter Park.
Other SSC Scores:
Barry 96 Florida Tech 92 (OT)
Eckerd 72 Lynn 55
Nova Southeastern 89 Saint Leo 63
SSC Standings:
Florida Southern 7-1 (18-1)
Barry 5-3 (14-3)
Nova Southeastern 5-3 (8-11)
Saint Leo 4-4 (16-5)
Tampa 4-4 (11-6)
Eckerd 4-4 (11-8)
Florida Tech 3-5 (13-6)
Rollins 3-5 (9-9)
Lynn 1-7 (7-11)