The Rollins Tars used a 17-2 run that turned a 12 point deficit (47-35) into a five point lead (52-47) to propel them to a 97-90 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic Saturday at Rubin Arena in West Palm Beach. The win, coupled with Barry knocking off Eckerd Saturday afternoon meant that Rollins, Barry and Eckerd shared the conference regular season title at 12-4. With the win Saturday the Tars improved to 21-7 on the season. While the Sailfish ended the season at 12-14. The Tars improved by 12 wins from a year ago. The 21 wins is the most since going 25-7 in the 2010-11 season.
Jeff Merton led the Tars with 21 points on the day. The sophomore from Naples was 7 of 11 from the floor despite being sick the last couple days- Sam Philpott continued his monster conference season with another double-double (20 points and 10 rebounds.) The Tars also got 12 points each from James Ferrell, Mike Bedulskis, and Sharif Almulla.
Rollins shot 54 percent (31-57) for the game, including 67 percent (16-24) in the second half. They shot 77 percent (26-34) from the free throw line- and- shot at a 43 percent clip (9-21) from the 3-point line. The Tars won the rebounding battle 37-31. They had 15 assists and 15 turnovers.
The Sailfish were led by 21 points from Bakari Warthen- Nigel Sydnor added 20- while Michael Simpson scored 17. They shot 45 percent (30-67) from the field- shot 31 percent (11-36) from the 3-point line- and- shot 73 percent (19-26) at the free throw line. The Sailfish had 15 assists and nine turnovers.
In the early going the pace was very quick as both teams would trade baskets. The lead changed hands four times in the first three minutes and was tied at 7 at the 17 minute mark of the half. The Salfish would scored five of the next seven points, before the Tars would go on a 11-2 run to take a six point lead (20-14) at the 10:59 mark of the opening half. After scoring nine consecutive points PBA would take a 25-23 lead at the 8:07 mark of the half. The lead would change hands three more times over the next four minutes, then the Sailfish would go on a big run to take a 12 point lead (47-35) right before halftime. The Tars would get score the last five points of the half, all courtesy of Philpott to trim the deficit to seven (47-40.)
The halftime break would not slow down the Tars. They would score the first six points of the second half, and would eventually take a five point lead (54-49) at the 16:35 mark.
Rollins would not be able to shake the Sailfish though. It would be 70-66 Rollins at the 8:26 mark of the game.
PBA would cut the deficit to one (72-71) before Ferrell and Deion Clark would hit 3-pointer's on back to back possessions. The 3-pointer by Clark was just his fourth of the season and gave the Tars a 78-71 lead with just under six minutes to go. The Sailfish would get to within two two more times but that is as close as they would get.
Rollins will be back in action Wednesday night. The Tars who are the #3 seed in the upcoming Sunshine State Conference Tournament will host #6 Lynn at Warden Arena. Tip time is set for 7 PM. 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 Saturday:
Saint Leo 75 Tampa 59
Embry-Riddle 83 Lynn 74
Barry 82 Eckerd 69
Nova Southeastern 90 Florida Southern 84
SSC Standings:
Barry 12-4
Eckerd 12-4
Rollins 12-4
Saint Leo 10-6
Nova Southeastern 6-10
Lynn 6-10
Florida Tech 5-11
Florida Southern 5-11
Tampa 4-12
South Region Standings (Updated 2.24)
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
SSC Tournament First Round (3/2)
# 8 Florida Southern@ #1 Barry
#5 Nova Southeastern@ #4 Saint Leo
#7 Florida Tech@ #2 Eckerd
#6 Lynn@ #3 Rollins
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