Making A Statement.

The Rollins Tars came up with a big win Wednesday night at Warden Arena. The 81-72 win was the 20th of the season for the Tars. In turn it was a big region victory over a Saint Leo team that is right behind them in both the conference and regional rankings.
  Rollins improved to 20-7 overall and 12-4 in the SSC.  The Tars guaranteed no worse than the #3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. They have a chance for a share of the title with a Barry win over Eckerd Saturday.
 Jeff Merton and Sharif Almulla each scored 20 points to lead the way for Rollins.  Almulla scored 10 of the team's first 15 points out of the gate.  Merton then caught fire in the middle of the first half.  Sam Philpott continued his stellar season with 14 points- while James Ferrell added 10 points and five assists.
  The Tars shot 49 percent (29-59) from the field-  they shot 39 percent (11-28) from the 3-point line. At the free throw line the Tars struggled for a second straight game (going 12-18 for 67 percent.)  The Tars also won the rebounding battle 39-29.  They had 15 assists and tied a season low with just seven turnovers.
  Saint Leo fell to 17-10 and 9-6 in the SSC.  They were paced by Trey Griseck with 25 points- while Marcus Dewberry added 15 points and 10 rebounds. Saint Leo shot 24-58 percent from the field (41 percent.)  From the 3-point line the Lions shot 38 percent (12-32.)  Saint Leo also shot at a 75 percent clip (12-16) from the free throw line.  The Lions had 18 assists and nine turnovers in the defeat.
  The game got off to a quick start for both teams. It was 14-13 at the first media timeout.  Merton then lifted the Tars to a 27-14 lead with 8:39 in the opening half after nailing three consecutive 3-pointer's.  Joey Galvis would hit a three of his own to build the lead to 16 with 6:45 in the half before the Lions would counter with a 8-0 run.  The Tars would briefly get the lead back to double figures before taking a 44-35 lead into halftime.
  The Tars would stretch the lead to 12 in the early stages of the second half and it would stay there until a 8-0 run at the 12:34 mark would make it a 20 point game (66-46.)
 Saint Leo would not go down without a fight. The Lions would get to within eight in the final minute, but that is as close as they would get.
Rollins will be back in action Saturday when they head to Rubin Arena to take on Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sailfish upset the Tars in the first meeting of the season. You can catch all the action on the Geico Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and on 91.5 FM WPRK Winter Park.
Other SSC Scores:
Eckerd 84 Florida Southern 72
Lynn 74 Tampa 55
Florida Tech 94 Palm Beach Atlantic 79
Barry 112 Embry-Riddle 84
SSC Standings:
Eckerd 12-3 (22-5)
Rollins 12-4 (20-7)
Barry 11-4 (20-5)
Saint Leo 9-6 (17-10)
Lynn 6-10 (12-13)
Nova Southeastern 5-10 (10-15)
Florida Southern 5-10 (10-17)
Florida Tech 5-11 (14-14)
Tampa 4-11 (9-17)
South Region Standings:
1. Alabama-Huntsville
2. Eckerd
3. West Georgia
4. Barry
5. Stillman
6. Rollins
7. Union (TN)
8.Saint Leo
9. Delta State
10. Valdosta State