The Rollins Tars needed overtime to do so, but eventually knocked off a pesky Puerto Rico Rio Piedras team 112-104 at Warden Arena Thursday afternoon. With the victory Rollins improved to 7-3 on the season. With the loss Piedras fell to 2-4. The Tars stayed perfect (12-0) all time versus the Gullitos all time.
Rollins got the win despite blowing a nine point lead in the last 1:24 of regulation. Seven Rollins players scored in double figures in this one. Sam Philpott led the way with 19 points- Jeff Merton scored 16 of his 18 in the second half- Connor McKim scored 16 points, dished out five assists and had a pair of steals. Joey Galvis and Jack Fleming scored 13 points each. Fleming also added a career high seven assists. Blake Admire set a new career high with 11 points- and- Mike Bedulskis added 10. Eric Castaneda led the Tars with a career high 11 rebounds in the win.
The Tars shot 61 percent as a team in this one. They shot 58 percent (15-26) from the 3-point line. They were a solid 21-27 (77 percent) from the free throw line. The Tars won the rebounding battle 36-31. They had 25 assists and 20 turnovers.
The Gullitos were paced by a hot shooting Omar Font. Font hit 10 of his 14 3-point attempts on the way to a 36 point game- He had five steals and four assists. Gabriel Anglero added 23- while Krystian Medina netted 14. Esteban Cordero led the Gullitos with 14 assists. Rio-Piedras shot 50 percent as a team and shot 44 percent (24-54) from the 3-point line. They only shot 67 percent (8-12) from the free throw line. They had 27 assists and 22 turnovers.
Piedras came out hit red hot hitting five of the first six shots they took (all 3-pointer's) and jumped out to a 11 point lead early (15-4.) The Tars would bounce back with a 14-3 run of their own over the next four minutes to knot the game at 18. Admire scored eight of those 14 points for the Tars. After Piedras took a brief lead Bedulskis would score six straight and Rollins would take a nine point lead (32-23)with seven minutes in the half. The Gullitos would have another run and would take a five point lead late. The Tars would end the half with a pair of 3-pointer's (one by Philpott and another by Jakobbi Bonner) to take a 45-44 halftime lead.
The Tars looked to be in complete control after taking a 14 point lead (77-63) at the 8:22 mark after Merton hit a couple free throws. The Gullitos would get to within six (90-84) at the 2:09 mark but McKim buried a 3-pointer to make it a nine point lead (93-84) at the 1:24 mark. The Tars would have three consecutive turnovers and Piedras would be within two (93-91) with 30 seconds to play. A pair of Fleming free throws would make it a four point game on the ensuing possession. Another 3-pointer, this one by Anglero cut it to one (95-94.) Fleming would go back to the line and nail two more to make it 97-94. Anglero would then bank in a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would send the game to an extra session.
Each team would get a bucket early in the overtime. The Tars would have a four point lead, before a 3-pointer by Medina would cut the lead to one (105-104.) That would be the last points the Gullitos would score as McKim would seal the Tars victory at the free throw line.
After the game the Tars boarded a plane to Las Vegas where they will take part in the Las Vegas South Point Classic on Sunday and Monday. Each game will be at 2 PM Eastern Time and can be heard on the Geico Tars Sports Network on 915 FM WPRK Winter Park and worldwide on RollinsSports.com
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