WINTER PARK , Fla. (January 4, 2006) The Rollins
College men's basketball team made a successful return to Sunshine
State Conference play as they defeated the Saint Leo Lions 87-64.
The Tars (8-3, 2-0) used a big second half to finish off the
scrappy Lions (4-9, 0-2). Rollins outscored Saint Leo 50-28 in the
second half after leading by only one point at the half. The Tars
have now put together three straight victories.
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Rollins had three players in double figures on the night. Junior
forward Isaac Codrey scored a career high 20 points and grabbed
three rebounds in 27 minutes of play. Sophomore point guard Jonny
Reibel finished with a double double. Reibel netted 11 points and
dished out a career high 11 assists. Junior Deon Troupe tied a
season high with 18 points on three of five shooting from long
distance. Junior center Jordan Kolosey and junior guard John
Thinnes also had solid nights. Kolosey finished with eight points
and six rebounds and Thinnes finished with eight points and a
career high seven rebounds.
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Each
team started slow out of the gate, but the Tars were able to gain a
double digit lead within the first seven minutes. Isaac Codrey hit
the first of several lay-ups on the night with 13 minutes to go to
put the Tars up 16-5. But the Lions would answer the Tars early
outburst. A Michael Caulfield three pointer with nine minutes to go
gave Saint Leo a 25-23 lead. The Lions would push their lead out to
as much as six in the half. But Rollins would eventually take back
the lead and went into the half up 37-36 on a pair of free throws
by Deon Troupe.
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Rollins jumped on the Lions in the first two minutes of the second
half with back to back treys by Deon Troupe and Jon Smith. Rollins
was able to push the lead out to 68 to 50 on a Nate Rusbosin lay-in
with 9:22 to go, and would never look back. The Tars would go on to
win 87-64.
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The
Tars pressure zone defense gave the Lions fits all evening as
Rollins forced 24 Saint Leo turnovers which led to 30 Tar points.
The Tars also dominated the paint outscoring the Lions 38 to eight
inside. The Tars bench continued to shine as the reserves put up 35
points to Saint Leo's 21.
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The
Tars will be back in action at home on Saturday afternoon when they
will battle Eckerd in Warden Arena at 4:00 pm. Eckerd is 10-2 on
the season and are 0-1 in Sunshine State Conference play. The
Tritons fell to Tampa at home 67-58 back on December ninth. The
Tars are 2-0 in conference play with wins over Florida Tech on the
road and Saint Leo at home.
