BOCA
RATON, Fla. (February 11, 2006) ' In a battle for the outright lead
of the Sunshine State Conference, the Rollins College men's
basketball team defeated the Fighting Knights of Lynn University
68-66. In a stunning come from behind victory, the Tars overcame a
41-24 halftime deficit to steal the victory. With the win, Rollins
moves into sole possession of first place with an overall record of
18-5 and 10-2 in the conference while the Fighting Knights fall to
second at 18-6 and 10-3.'
Three Tars scored in double figures as sophomore guard Jonny Reibel
had 17, junior guard John Thinnes added 16 and junior guard Deon
Troupe notched 12. Fighting Knights senior forward Marcus Knight
was on fire all evening, leading all scorers with 23. Senior
forward Sheldon Edwards led all players with 12 rebounds.'
The Fighting Knights wasted no time establishing a home court
advantage, taking an early lead over the Tars. Hayes led the way
for Lynn, scoring 16 points in the first half alone, on 6-9
shooting from the field. Rollins was held to 38.1 percent from the
field in the half, connecting on only eight of 21 attempts, while
Lynn was 14-33 for 42.4 percent. The two teams went into the break
with Lynn ahead 41-24.'
The second half saw two complete different teams on the court as
the Tars outscored Lynn 44-25 in the half. Rollins came out of
halftime and went on a 13-6 run heading into the first media
timeout with 14:57 on the clock. Troupe, Thinnes and Reibel all
connected from three-point range to cut the Fighting Knights lead
to ten, 47-37. The lead shrunk to four, 58-54, with 8:49 on the
clock after the teams traded three-pointers, Reibel with two and
Troupe with one for the Tars and Evan Cohn with two and Mark
Mathews with one for the Lynn. Troupe then hit his third trey of
the half with 7:22 remaining to tie the game at 59. Rollins took
their first lead of the game with 5:41 on the clock on another
three-pointer, this time by senior guard Nate Rubosin. Over the
last five minutes, Rollins outscored the Fighting Knights 6-5 and
sealed their victory.'
After shooting 42.4 percent in the first half, Lynn was held to 32
percent in the second stanza. In the second half alone, Rollins was
13-19 (68.4 percent) from the field, including 9-14 from
three-point range. Lynn out-rebounded the Tars 38-29.'
With the conference lead in hand, the Tars will return to Winter
Park for a three-game home stand, beginning on Wednesday, February
15 as they host Tampa. In their last meeting in Tampa, Rollins
handed the Spartans a 67-60 defeat on their home court. Game time
is set for 7:30 p.m.'
