Late Game Woes Continue In Road Loss To Tampa

 For the second straight game and the second time this week the Rollins College were in a tight see-saw affair. This one featured 18 ties and 21 lead changes. As has been the case for every road game but two this season, the Tars came up short in the end. This time a 88-81 decision against the University of Tampa at the Bob Martinez Center. With the loss Rollins falls to 13-12 and 7-10 in the SSC. Tampa improves to 13-10 and 7-9 in the SSC with the win. 

 It was a slow start for both teams as Jah Nze of Rollins had the only points ( a triple) in the first 1:51 of the contest. Rollins would take a four point lead (10-6) after a hoop by Omar Figueroa. Tampa would take the lead (13-12) on a pair of Ryan Blount free throws with 13:14 to go in the first half. After a three by BJ Schaeffer the Tampa lead was six (20-14) with 10:45 in the opening half. Rollins would battle back and knot the game at 26 after Nze nailed a trey with five minutes until halftime. The two teams would go back and forth the rest of the half but it was a quick 4-0 burst by the Spartans that put the home team on top 38-34 going into halftime. Rollins shot 48 percent from the field in the opening half, 23.1 percent (3-13) from the 3-point line, and 58.3 percent (7-12) from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. UT shot 44 percent from the field, 23.1 percent (3-13) from the 3-point line, and 86.7 percent (13-15) from the free throw line in the games first 20 minutes. 

 Rollins battled back early in the second and retook the lead (45-44) on a Figueroa trey at the 16:10 mark. After Figueroa and Trey Lane traded triples the game was tied at 57 with 10:28 on the clock. After several minutes of back and forth action Figueroa calmly knocked down a pair of free throws to put Rollins up 73-72 with 5:09 to go. The next six points went to UT. Quartlebaum made a layup and was fouled. He converted the free throw at the 2:16 mark to get Rollins within two (78-76.) Tampa made enough free throws and got enough stops down the stretch to pick up the win. 

 Rollins was led by Nze and Quartlebaum who had 21 points each, Figueroa added 17, and Ricky Ghedini tallied 11. The Tars shot 50 percent from the field, 31 percent (9-29) from the 3-point line, and 80 percent (24-30) at the free throw line. Rollins won the rebounding battle 31-26. They had 14 assists and 19 turnovers in the loss. 

 For the Spartans, Blount led the way with 21 points, Lane had 20, Taylor added 15, and Ben Southerland tallied 11. UT shot 46 percent from the field, 34.6 percent (9-26) from the 3-point line, and 71.7 percent (33-46) at the free throw line. The Spartans had 10 assists and 12 turnovers in the win. 

 Rollins will return home and take on the Barry on Wednesday (2/18.) Tip time from Warden Arena is set for 7:30 PM. 

Other SSC Scores: 

Nova Southeastern 96 Florida Tech 85 

Barry 76 Saint Leo 68 

Florida Southern 87 Embry-Riddle 82 

Palm Beach Atlantic 71 Eckerd 62 

SSC Standings: 

Nova Southeastern 15-1 (20-1) 

Palm Beach Atlantic 13-4 (21-4) 

Florida Southern 11-5 (19-7) 

Barry 8-8 (13-11) 

Embry-Riddle 8-8 (11-12) 

Tampa 7-9 (13-10) 

Lynn 7-9 (12-11) 

Rollins 7-10 (13-12) 

Eckerd 6-11 (12-12) 

Florida Tech 6-11 (10-15) 

Saint Leo 2-14 (7-17)