FT.
LAUDERDALE, Fla. (February 25, 2006) ' Despite their 79-57 loss to Nova Southeastern
University on Saturday night, the Rollins College men's basketball
team still managed to grab the Sunshine State Conference regular
season championship. The loss was the Tars first road conference
loss this season and drops the Tars record to 20-7 overall and 12-4
in the conference, while Nova finishes 17-10 overall and 11-5 in
the conference. With Lynn University's loss to Eckerd College, the
Tars finished the regular season atop the conference and will have
the number one seed in the conference tournament.
Leading the Tars was
junior John Thinnes (Cincinnati, Ohio) with 11 points. Sophomores
Jonny Reibel (Chicago, Ill.) and Chauncey Gibbs (West Palm Beach,
Fla.) and freshman Kevin Hogan (Pensacola, Fla.) all added eight
apiece. Rhys Martin and David Naylor led the Sharks with 12.
The game started on a
positive note for the Tars has they grabbed an early 9-0 lead. The
lead was short lived as the Sharks came alive and took control of
the game. Rollins was held to 26.1 percent shooting in the first
half and 32 percent for the game, while Nova shot 43.9 percent.
After the 9-0 run to
start the game, the Sharks answered with a 12-3 run of their own to
knot the game at 12 with 8:15 remaining in the first half. Rollins
took a 15-12 lead off a Greg Sweeney three-pointer, which turned
out to be their last lead of the game. Nova took a 29-23 lead into
the break, with Naylor leading all scorers with eight points.
The second half was all
Nova, as the Sharks shot 48.5 percent from the field, with five
treys. The half opened with Nova going on an 11-0 and they opened
up a 26 point lead with four minutes to play in the game. Rollins
fought back and cut the advantage to 22 at the final whistle,
79-57.
With the regular season
complete, Rollins will head to Saint Leo next week for the
conference tournament. Opening round games begin on Wednesday,
March 1. With the number one seed, the Tars have a first round bye
and will play the winner of the Florida Tech-Saint Leo game on
Thursday, March 2. Game times will be set later this weekend.
