Nearly seven weeks after letting a game against Eckerd get away at Warden Arena, the Tars faced adversity once again against the Tritons. This time it was at the McArthur Center at Eckerd and the Tars had a second half lead. Eckerd came back and forced overtime, but the Tars would ultimately prevail 82-79 to gain the season split.
Rollins goes to 15-6 overall and 7-3 in the SSC with a fourth straight victory. With the loss Eckerd fell for the second time in three games, and dropped to 18-4 overall. They fall into a first place tie with Barry at 9-2 in the conference.
The Tars Sam Philpott continue his stellar season with 20 points and eight rebounds- Deion Clark scored 17 points for a second straight game- to go along with eight rebounds and four assists- while Mike Bedulskis and Jack Fleming each added 10. On a night when leading scorer Jeff Merton led the team with nine rebounds but only scored four points (and fouled out late) The Tars prevailed.
Rollins shot 49 percent (29-59) in the victory- they did not shoot it well from the 3-point line (shooting at a 33 percent clip, 6 of 18- and- they were a solid 80 percent (18-22) at the free throw line. Rollins won the rebounding battle 36-29. They had 16 assists and 16 turnovers.
Eckerd was led by E.J. Moody who poured home a career high 32 points on the strength of six 3-pointer's- Kevin Walsh added 12- and- Trevor Young chipped in 10 in the losing effort.
The Tritons shot 43 percent (27-63) from the field- they shot 35 percent (12-34) from the 3-point line- they struggled at the free throw line where they shot 54 percent (13-24.) They had 17 assists and 12 turnovers.
Rollins led for all but 32 seconds in the contest. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Tritons scored five out of the next seven to cut the lead to two (7-5.) The Tars would score the next five as a Clark traditional three point play would give Rollins a 12-5 lead at the 13:40 mark of the opening half.
Eckerd would get the lead back to two at the midway point of the half before Rollins would go on a spurt of their own to take a nine point lead (25-16) after a Eric Castaneda 3-pointer at the 6:18 mark of the half. Jack Fleming would give the Tars a spark off the bench scoring five points to make it a 12-0 Tars run and a 14 point lead (33-19) with four minutes left in the half. The Tritons would cut into the lead and Rollins would lead 37-30 at the half.
Eckerd would open the half with a 11-5 run to cut the lead to one (42-41) before the Tars would push the lead back out to six with 12:38 to go. The Tritons would cut it two again but once again the Tars would respond, this time a 7-0 run to give them a nine point lead (55-46) at the 9:01 mark. The Tars lead would disappear all together as Eckerd would take a brief lead at 66-65 with under a minute to go. The Tars would regain the lead with seven seconds left on a Philpott old fashioned 3-point play. E.J. Moody was fouled on a 3-point attempt with two seconds left and would have a chance to win it at the free throw line. Moody hit two of three and the game went to overtime.
The teams would trade baskets for the first couple minutes of the extra period. Sharif Almulla would nail a 3-pointer to give Rollins the lead and then a pair of Rollins free throws by James Ferrell would stretch the lead to five. Moody would drain his sixth 3-pointer to cut it to a two point game on the ensuing possession. The Tars would get a pair of free throws from Deion Clark to seal the victory.
The Tars will be back in action Saturday when they play host to Nova Southeastern. A team the Tars beat 75-74 in the first meeting this season.
Other SSC Scores:
Barry 102 Saint Leo 75
Embry-Riddle 59 Tampa 58
Nova Southeastern 79 Florida Tech 77
Florida Southern 91 Palm Beach Atlantic 77
SSC Standings:
Barry 9-2 (16-3)
Eckerd 9-2 (18-4)
Rollins 7-3 (15-6)
Saint Leo 7-5 (14-8)
Lynn 4-7 (10-9)
Nova Southeastern 4-7 (9-11)
Florida Southern 4-7 (9-13)
Florida Tech 3-8 (11-11)
Tampa 2-8 (6-14)
No comments:
Post a Comment