WINTER PARK , Fla. (November 30, 2005) The Rollins
College men's basketball team proved to be a resilient group
Wednesday night as they defeated Florida Memorial in Winter Park by
a score of 73-64. The Tars (2-2) were coming off of two straight
tough defeats on the road against UCF and at home last Monday
against West Florida . But after the long holiday break, the Tars
came back home and took care of business against Florida Memorial
(6-5).
'
The
Tars matched a season high as four players reached double figure
point totals. Junior guard, Deon Troupe led all scorers with 17.
Troupe scorched the nets on 4-6 shooting and 4-5 shooting from
beyond the arc. Junior forward John Thinnes also stroked the ball
nicely as he added 14 points on 4-6 shooting from three point land.
Junior forward, Jon Smith added 11 down low for the Tars and added
three steals on the defensive end. Sophomore Chauncey Gibbs had
another stellar night as he gave the Tars 10 points off the bench
on 5-6 shooting and also grabbed five rebounds. And finally
sophomore point guard Jonny Reibel gave the Tars seven points,
eight assists, and two steals.
'
The
Tars started the game off quickly by grabbing an 18-10 lead with
12:23 to go in the first half. The Lions of Florida Memorial would
keep the game close through most of the first half, cutting the
lead to as little as two, at 18-16. But the Tars kept pushing the
Lions and after a John Thinnes tray with 3:26 to go, the Tars
grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 32-22. They would keep
the pressure up the rest of the half and go into the break with a
37-28 lead.
'
Things stayed stagnant for the first part of the second. However,
the Tars were able to extend their lead back into double digits
when Jon Smith hit a three-pointer to make the score 46-35 with
15:01 to go. The Tars would push the lead up to as much as 19 in
the second and cruise to a 73-64 victory despite a late desperate
surge by the Lions.
'
The Tars will be back in
action Saturday December 3 rd , when they open up Sunshine State
Conference play in Melbourne against Florida Tech. Florida Tech
currently shares the same record as Rollins at 2-2. The two teams
split their match-ups last season with each team winning on the
road.
