Tars Put Out Fire Monday.

The number seven has been kind to the Rollins Tars in the past- and- so far this year that trend has continued.  The last time the Tars were a seventh seed they took the South regional championship in Huntsville, Alabama en route to the Elite Eight. This year the Tars are picked to finish seventh in the Sunshine State Conference preseason standings. You would not know it the way that they have played the first four games of the season. That continued Monday evening as the Tars were a 90-70 winner over the Fire of Southeastern. That was the fourth straight win for the Tars and the first loss for the Fire. All four wins for Rollins have come by double digits.
  Connor McKim paced the Tars (4-0) with 24 points and four steals on the evening.  He was one of four Tars players who scored in double figures.  Jakobi Bonner added 14 points and six rebounds- while Hutton Yenor chipped in 11- and- Daniel Loh had 10 points and seven rebounds to round out the double digit scorers. All 12 Tars who played on Monday scored.  The Tars shot 49 percent from the floor as a team- 36 percent (10-28) from the 3-point line- and- 67 percent (12-18) from the free throw line.  The Tars dominated the rebounding battle- as they won the battle of the boards 40-27.  Rollins had 16 assists and 18 turnovers as a team.
  Southeastern was led by Linwood Ross who scored 12 points- Dylan Causwell chipped in 11- while Ismael Celestin and Isaiah Moody netted 10 points each.  The Fire shot 51 percent from the field in the game- but really struggled from both the 3-point line (4-20 for 20 percent- and- the free throw line 12-19 for 63 percent.)  The Fire had 16 assists and 25 turnovers in the contest.
  Southeastern jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the contest.  Rollins would lead it 23-16 by the midway point of the opening half.  The Tars led 32-26 with 3:21 in the first half, before they finished the half on a 11-0 run to lead 43-26 at the intermission.  The Tars were in control in the second half, as they would lead it by as many as 26. The Fire would get to as close as 14 with 3:07 to go but that is the closest they would get.  The victory for the Tars gave coach Tom Klusman win number 697, as that inches him closer to win number 700.
  Rollins will be back in action Wednesday at 2 PM when they take on Puerto Rico Mayaguez.  As always you can catch all the action on RollinsSports.com and on 91.5 WPRK Winter Park.