Exercising Some Demons. Tars Stave off Pesky Royals.

The Rollins Tars improved to 4-0 on the season with a 78-57 win over the Warner Royals Wednesday night. The Royals fell to 4-2.  With the win the Tars snapped a four game losing streak against Warner.
Once again the Tars used a balanced attack to get the win. 11 of the 12 Tars who saw action scored. A pair of Tars scored in double figures. Jeff Merton scored a career high 24 points after not scoring a point in the game's first 18 minutes. The sophomore from Naples added six rebounds- James Ferrell got his first career start for the injured Alex Blessig (out 4-6 weeks with a broken finger.)  Ferrell responded with 11 points.  The senior from Winter Park High School added five rebounds- a pair of assists and three steals.  The Tars shot 51 percent as a team in the win.  They shot 42 percent (10-24) from the 3-point line.  Rollins continued to be solid at the free throw line, where they shot 76 percent (22-29.)  The Tars won the rebounding battle 36-29.  They had 12 assists and 14 turnovers.
  The Royals also had a pair of players score in double figures. Warren Hall paced the Royals with 20 points.  He would add seven rebounds and three assists.  Anontio Ansley would drain five 3-pointer's en route to his 15 points.  The Royals shot 38 percent in the loss. They struggled from the 3-point line where they shot 29 percent (10-34.)  Warner shot at a 63 percent clip (5-8) from the free throw line.  The Royals had 11 assists and 16 turnovers.
  The first half was very tightly contested. The Royals would take a 14-8 lead after Hall hit a 3-pointer at the 13:42 mark. The Tars would have an answer though.  They would go on a 9-2 run capped by a Jack Fleming 3-pointer that gave them a 17-16 lead at the 12:04 mark.
 Rollins would stretch the lead to six before Warner would answer. The Royals would take a one-point lead with a little over a minute left in the half.  The Tars would get the lead back on a Merton 3-pointer with 29 seconds, that would give them a two point lead (36-34) at the half.
 The Tars would come out in the second half and stretch the lead to 11 after a Ferrell put back at the 14:55 mark. The lead would grow to 22 and the Tars would coast to a fourth straight win.
Rollins will be back in action Saturday when they conclude the three game home stand with the first game of conference action. The Tars will welcome Tampa to Warden Arena. Tip time is set for 4 PM. You can catch all the action on the Geico Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and locally on 91.5 FM WPRK.