"Bench Bunch" Propels Tars Past Southern.

The Rollins Tars got 40 points off of the bench, including a career high 21 points from Sam Philpott on the way to a 89-72 win over Florida Southern in front of a energetic 902 spectators at Warden Arena.  With the victory the Tars improved to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the Sunshine State Conference. After the loss, the defending champion Mocs fell to 8-10 overall and 4-4 in the SSC.
   Rollins shot 50 percent (28-56) as a team on the night. They did not have a good night from behind the 3-point line where they shot 25 percent (6-24.)  They did continue to have success at the free throw line though, where they shot 79 percent (27-34.)  The Tars had 19 assists on 28 made baskets. They also dominated the rebounding battle, out rebounding FSC 44-27.  They turned the ball over 13 times.
   Philpott led all scorers with 21 points (19 in the second half-) Jeff Merton scored all 12 of his points in the second- Joey Galvis added 11- while Mike Bedulskis added 10- James Ferrell rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points to go along with a game high eight assists.
   The Mocs who were playing without leading scorer Dylan Travis were paced by Dominique Williams who scored 20 points- Sheldon Zablotny added 19 of his own (all in the first half.)  Michael Volovic chipped in 12.  FSC shot 38 percent (22-58) from the field in the loss.  They shot at a 39 percent clip( 15 of 39) from the 3-point line.  The Mocs shot 72 percent (13-18) from the free throw line.  The Mocs had 18 assists and 12 turnovers.
  The game started as a see-saw affair in the first five minutes.  The largest lead was three (9-6) by the Tars at the 15:33 mark.  The Mocs would have an answer though. They would go on a quick 9-2 spurt to take a four point lead (15-11) at the 13:30 minute mark.  The Tars would then cut it to two at the 11:17 mark after a pair of Eric Castaneda free throws.  The Mocs would stretch the lead out to eight at the 7:11 mark of the opening half. Rollins would then go on a 10-3 run to trim the lead to one (28-27) at the 4:35 mark.  The Tars would trail by four (37-33) at the intermission.
  The Tars would take the lead 40-39 at the 18:33 mark.  After Merton would score five straight points the Tars lead would stretch to eight at the 14:22 mark.  The teams would trade baskets for the next few minutes until Galvis would drill a 3-pointer to give Rollins a 66-55 lead with 9:21 to go.  Southern would pull back to within five, but the Tars would quickly run off the next five to get the lead back to double figures with just under six minutes to go.  The Tars would lead by as many as 18 late and cruise to the victory.
  The Tars will be back in action Saturday when they head to the Bob Martinez Center to face Tampa. Tip time is set for 4 PM. You can catch the action on 91.5 FM WPRK and worldwide on RollinsSports.com
Other SSC Scores:
Nova Southeastern 73 Tampa 69
Barry 85 Florida Tech 65
Palm Beach Atlantic 81 Lynn 76
Embry Riddle 68 Eckerd 65
SSC Standings:
Eckerd 8-0 (16-2)
Barry 6-2 (13-3)
Rollins 5-3 (12-6)
Saint Leo 4-4 (11-7)
Florida Southern 4-4 (8-10)
Nova Southeastern 3-5 (7-9)
Florida Tech 3-5 (10-8)
Lynn 2-6 (8-8)
Tampa 1-7 (5-12)