What a day for Connor McKim and the Rollins Tars. They had a 15 point lead at halftime inside Warden Arena against Lynn, trailed by four with 2:20 to go in regulation- and- would ultimately advance after a McKim layup with 3.5 seconds to go. The Tars won 75-73 and advance to Saturday's Semifinal against #2 Eckerd.
Sam Philpott paced the Tars (19-10) with 18 points on the night- Joey Galvis knocked down five 3-pointer's to net his 15 points- Eric Castaneda added 14- and- McKim posted a double double with 11 points and 11 assists- Jeff Merton just missed a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds.
Rollins shot 47 percent as a team- this included shooting at a 37 percent clip from the 3-point line. The Tars really struggled at the free throw line, where they shot 52 percent (11-21.) They had 18 assists and 11 turnovers.
The Fighting Knights (13-14) saw the season come to an end in Winter Park. MarQuan Botley led Lynn with 18 points- while Kevin O'Brien and Jamal Palmer scored 16 points each. The Knights shot 49 percent as a team- 36 percent (11-31) from the 3-point line- and shot at a 71 percent clip (10-14) from the free throw line. They won the rebounding battle 36-29- and- had 21 assists as opposed to 19 turnovers.
The Tars would come out of the gates quickly and take a 5-0 lead after Galvis's first of five 3-pointer's on the night. They would take a eight point lead (13-5) at the first media timeout of the opening half. The lead would be stretched to 10 (20-10) after a Castaneda 3-pointer at the 13:07 mark in the first. The lead would grow to 12 (27-15) after a Castaneda free throw 5:30 minutes later. After Lynn got to within nine (35-26) the Tars would score the next eight points to go up 17 and ultimately held a 15 point (46-31) halftime lead.
The Fighting Knights would get to within five (49-44) after a 13-3 run that was capped by a Palmer layup with 15:41 to go. The Tars would get the lead back to nine (53-44) after a Philpott three-point play only to see Lynn answer right back. This time it was a 9-2 run that got the Knight within two (55-53)after a Botley 3-pointer with 11:15 to go. The Tars would score the next basket, then would go on a 7-0 spurt to take a three point lead (60-57) with 9:21 to go. The Knights would maintain the lead for a couple minutes until Philpott gave Rollins a 68-67 lead with 4:41 to go. The next five points would belong to the Fighting Knights and they led by four (72-68) after a Vieux Kande layup at the 3:42 mark. After each team made one free throw on the next possession, Galvis would drain a huge 3-pointer with 2:18 on the clock. Philpott would split a pair of free throws for the Tars with just over a minute to go and it would be knotted at 73. Castaneda would come up with a huge steal for the Tars, then Galvis would get a giant rebound of a Castaneda missed layup to set up the wild finish. Rollins would call a timeout with 22 seconds to go. They would get McKim who won the SSC Freshman of The Year earlier in the day in a pick and roll with Philpott and McKim would score with the left hand. It would not be over yet as Botley had a good look from the 3-point line as time expired and the Tars advanced to Saturday's Semifinals at the ICI Center in Daytona Beach. Tip time is set for 7:30 PM and you can catch all the action on the Geico Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com
Other SSC Tournament Scores:
#1 Barry 87 #8 Florida Tech 84
#4 Palm Beach Atlantic 66 #5 Tampa 63
#2 Eckerd 88 #7 Florida Southern 72
SSC Semis Saturday (At the ICI Center in Daytona Beach:
#1 Barry vs #4 Palm Beach Atlantic 5 PM
#2 Eckerd vs #3 Rollins 730 PM
South Region Rankings (Top Eight Qualify For 2017 NCAA Tournament:)
1. Valdosta State (23-4)
2. Alabama-Huntsville (21-7)
3. Delta State (19-7)
4. Barry (21-5)
5. Eckerd (20-7)
6. West Florida (20-8)
7. Christian Brothers (17-11)
8. Morehouse (16-9)
9. Rollins (18-10)
10. Shorter (14-11)
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