WINTER PARK , Fla. (December 29, 2005) The Rollins College men's
basketball team started off the
31
st Annual Winter Park Rotary Tangerine Tournament with a bang on
Thursday. The Tars (6-3) shrugged off their last defeat at the
hands of #14 Central Missouri State , to snatch a bounce back
victory against New Jersey Tech (3-6) 67-57.
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Junior forward Isaac Codrey was a force to be reckoned with as he
led the Tars in scoring with 15 points on the night. Sophomore
point guard Jonny Reibel filled up the stat sheet as usual. Reibel
pumped in 14 points on 5-11 shooting, grabbed five rebounds, and
dished out five assists. Junior guard John Thinnes also had a good
night as he finished with 11 points on 3-5 shooting from downtown.
Sophomore forward Chauncey Gibbs continued to show growth and
strength as he grabbed a game high six rebounds and scored nine
points.
'
Tech
came out hot in the first few minutes of the game as Marc Milbourne
Swan and Courcy Magnus hit a pair of jumpers to put the Highlanders
up five nothing. But the Tars responded with ten straight points
capped off by a Jonny Reibel fast break lay-in. Rollins grabbed its
biggest lead of the first half when Chauncey Gibbs got a three
point play inside to make it 18-11 with 11:57 to go. But the
Highlanders stayed with the Tars and trailed by only one at the
half 30-29.
'
Rollins tried to create some separation between themselves and Tech
in the first few minutes of the second half. But with 13:45 to play
the Tars found themselves up only one at 43-42. However, over the
next eight minutes of play the Tars started to wear down the
Highlander defense. When Greg Sweeney put in a lay up with 6:39 to
go, the Tars led 55-46. A late three pointer by John Thinnes put
the Tars up for good at 66-57. And Rollins would go on to win
67-57.
'
The
Tars did a fantastic job on the boards. Rollins out-rebounded Tech
39 to 23. The Tars were even tougher on the offensive glass where
they grabbed a 17 to four advantage. That in turn led to Rollins'
17-5 advantage in second chance points. The Tars settled down after
a rough first half. Rollins committed 14 first half turnovers and
still held the lead. The Tars were able to limit themselves to only
three turnovers in the second half.
'
The
Rollins bench once again played a huge part in their victory. Led
by Codrey's 15 points, the Tars' bench outscored the Highlanders'
30 to six.
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Rollins will be back in action Friday when they will play for the
Winter Park Rotary Tangerine Tournament Championship. They will
match up with Hillsdale, who defeated Mansfield 93-72, Thursday
afternoon. The game will begin at 8 pm in Warden Arena.
