Rollins Puts Out Fire.

The Rollins Tars bounced back from a rare loss on Saturday to Barry with a 94-91 win over the Southeastern University Fire at Warden Arena inside the Alfond Sports Center. The Tars improved to 6-3 with the victory. Southeastern fell to 8-2 with the defeat.
  Sam Philpott led four Tars in double figures with 22- Jeff Merton had 20 points, six rebounds and five assists- Connor McKim had 18 points and five assists- while Deion Clark added 16.  The Tars shot 64 percent from the floor in the victory- they shot 31 percent (5-16) from the 3-point line.  They shot 78 percent (21-27) from the free throw line.  For only the second time this season the Tars out-rebounded the opposition, this time by a 31-17 count.  They had 19 assists and 15 turnovers.
  SEU was led by Ryan Atkins who drained 8-10 3-pointer's on his way to pouring in a game high 34 points. Atkins was 12-15 from the field and hit six of the eight 3-pointer's in the opening stanza.  Three other Fire players scored in double figures in the loss.  Ismael Celestin had 12- while C.J. Reese and Jerry Oppenheimer added 11 points each.
 The Fire shot 59 percent from the field- 48 percent (12-25) from the 3-point line- and- 65 percent (13-20) from the free throw line.  The Fire had 22 assists and 13 turnovers as a team.
 The Fire came out hot in the early going and had the lead for the first eight minutes of the opening half as they led by five three different times.  After a 11-2 Rollins run the Tars led by five (28-23) at the 8:11 mark of the opening half.
  Southeastern would come back and knot the game at 34 with 3:23 to go in the half.  It would be Rollins who would then finish the half with a flurry and take a 47-40 lead into the locker room after a Eric Castaneda 3-pointer at the buzzer.
  The Tars would then open up a 13 point lead (55-42) before the Fire would come storming back and knot the game at 61 with 11:29 to go.  The next five minutes would be played evenly as three more ties would occur, before the Tars got the lead back.  Philpott and McKim would hit two baskets each and it would be a eight point Tars lead (84-76) at the 3:32 mark.
 The Fire would not go quietly as they would get to within two (88-86) with 1:18 remaining.  Castaneda would stretch the lead to four with a pair of free throws before Reese answered with a basket of his own for the Fire to get within two (90-88.)  Clark would hit a driving layup, but Atkins would hit his eighth 3-pointer of the game (this one from five or six steps behind the line) to cut the lead to one (92-91) with 28 seconds left.  Merton made a pair of free throws and a long 3-point attempt from the Fire would not go as the Tars would escape with the victory.
  Rollins will have a quick turnaround as they will be back at it again tomorrow night. This time it is the Warner Royals who come to Winter Park. You can catch the game on RollinsSports.com and the SSC Digital Network with Robert Segal and Jim "Shooter" Ferro.