Empty Trip. Tars Fall to Buffs Monday.

The Rollins Tars knew coming into this year's South Point Holiday Classic in Las Vegas this may be the toughest draw they have ever had. After a 85-80 loss to #10 Angelo State on Sunday afternoon Rollins was pummeled 89-68 by West Texas A@M at the Doolittle Center Monday. Tom Klusman and the Rollins staff can only hope the Tars will be a better team after playing two consecutive ranked opponents in a 24 hour span.
  West Texas A@M (14-1) has now rolled off 10 consecutive victories.  The Buffaloes placed five players in double figures for the second consecutive day (they defeated Western Washington Sunday.)  David Chavlovich scored 20 points and dished out a game high 11 assists to pace the Buffs- Joseph Prince knocked down four 3-pointer's en route to his 18 points- Drew Evans and Eric Golightly Jr. chipped in 11 points each- while Jordan Evans had 10.  The Buffs shot 53 percent as a team and 50 percent (17-34) from the 3-point line.  They also shot at a 71 percent clip (10-14) from the free throw line.  The Buffaloes nearly doubled the Tars rebounding output 36-19.  They had 26 assists and 23 turnovers.
  Rollins (7-5) was paced once again by Sam Philpott with 17 points- Connor McKim was a perfect 8 of 8 at the free throw line on his way to 12 points- while Jeff Merton added 10.  The Tars shot 48 percent as a team. Coming into the game in the top 25 in the country in 3-point shooting Rollins shot just 21 percent (3-14) from the 3-point line.  They shot 78 percent (21-27) at the free throw line.  Rollins had 13 assists and 18 turnovers.
  The Buffaloes come out red-hot in the early going as they would drain their first four field goals (all 3-pointer's) and then Golightly would hit a jumper to make it 14-3 in the game's first four minutes. After being down 15 (20-5) Rollins would get a 3-pointer from Galvis and pair of McKim free throws to make it a 10 point deficit (20-10.)  The Buffaloes would lead by as many as 23 in the opening half and take a 53-34 lead into the locker room.
  The Tars would get off to a good start in the second half, as Philpott would score the first five points after a A@M basket put them up 21. Rollins would get to within 16 (55-39) with 18:52 to go. Tommy Gove would hit a pair of 3-pointer's to destroy any chance of a Rollins comeback. The Buffs would lead by as many as 29 (83-54) with 6:29 left. The Tars would get no closer than 21 the rest of the way.
 The Tars will not play again until December 30th. The schedule will not get any easier as they will head to Miami Shores to take on Barry. Tip time that day is set for 4 PM. You can catch all the action on the Geico Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and on 91.5 FM WPRK Winter Park.