Defense Is Key As Rollins Disposes of Pesky Rams.

 The Rollins College Tars and South Florida Bible College Rams did battle at Warden Arena on Saturday. After a hard fought first half that saw the Tars have an eight point lead, they did a better job of protecting the ball in the final 20 minutes and came away with the 85-57 win. Rollins improved to 6-4 on the year.  

Rollins jumped out to a quick start as they led 5-0 as Marshall Klug scored the first five points of the contest on a basket as well as an and one. After Jah Nze nailed a triple at the 16:34 mark of the first half  Rollins held a 13-2 advantage. The Rans got to within six before a Michael Niemann triple and dunk gave Rollins a 21-10 lead halfway through the first half. The Rams came back and got to within four (27-23) as Herb Augustin nailed a triple with 6:18 until halftime. Ryan Renfro hit back to back buckets and Jackson Gaffney knocked down a three to stretch the lead back to double digits. After a mini surge by the Rams that saw Carter Kuzmin score right before halftime it was 36-28 in favor of Rollins. Rollins shot 54.2 percent from the field, 33 percent (4-12) from the 3-point line, and 75 percent (6-8) from the free throw line in the opening half. South Florida Bible shot 33 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from the 3-point line (4-11) and 80 percent (4-5) at the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. 

 Rollins took control early in the second half as the Tars scored the first 10 points of the half to stretch the lead to 18. That lead grew to 24 as Omar Figueroa continued his torrid early season shooting to knock down a pair of triples. After Ricky Ghedinni hit a trey the lead was a game high 27 (68-41.) The lead would grow to as many as 28 as Rollins would cruise to the win. 

 Nze led the Tars with 14, Gaffney added 12, and both Klug and Mayson Quartlebaum had nine. Quartlebaum added a game high eight rebounds. Rollins shot 52.8 percent from the field, 37 percent (10-27) from the 3-point line, and 82.6 percent (19-23) from the free throw line. Rollins dominated the glass 48-25. They had 19 assists and 18 turnovers in the contest. 

 The Rams were led by Herb Augustin with 13 while Samuel Smith and Quan Vickers each tallied nine. They shot 30.9 percent from the field, 31 percent (9-29) from the 3-point line, and 85.7 percent (6-7) at the free throw line. They had 12 assists and 10 turnovers as a team. 

Rollins will be back in action Saturday when they take on Hawaii Hilo in the Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas. Tip time is set for 9 PM. 

Other SSC Games Monday: 

Palm Beach Atlantic 81 Rollins 53 

SSC Standings: 

Palm Beach Atlantic 4-0 (10-0) 

Nova Southeastern 3-1 (6-1) 

Lynn 3-1 (7-2) 

Florida Southern 2-1 (9-2) 

Embry-Riddle 2-1 (4-4) 

Eckerd 1-2 (5-3) 

Florida Tech 1-2 (4-5) 

Saint Leo 1-2 (4-5) 

Barry 1-3 (4-5) 

Rollins 1-3 (6-4) 

Tampa 0-3 (4-4)