WINTER PARK, Fla. (January 29, 2007) ' The
Rollins men's basketball team pulled out a close victory over the
Florida Southern Mocs 71-69 on Monday evening at Warden Arena. The
Tars have won 11 straight at home and are now 13-0 at the Alfond
Sports Center this season.
Three Tars scored in double-digits as Rollins squeaked by
Florida Southern. Junior point guard Jonny Reibel notched 24 points
and five assists going nine of 15 from the field and a perfect four
and four from the charity stripe. Senior John Thinnes also had a
steady night for the Tars with 20 points going 50 percent from the
field and 60 percent from three point range. Guard Kevin Hogan
added 11 points and two rebounds for Rollins.
Rollins (17-3, 8-1) started the evening off slowly by making
their first shot almost five minutes into the first half. The Tars
quickly battled back with a pair of three pointers by Reibel and
one by Hogan to make the score 13-17. The Mocs and Tars traded
leads until the halftime buzzer when the score read 36-33 in favor
of Florida Southern.
In the first period, Rollins and Florida Southern were tied in
points in the paint, while the Tars led the Mocs 14-9 in points off
of turnovers and in fast break points 4-0. Florida Southern beat
out Rollins in second chance points 1-3 and bench points 17-12.
The Tars came out of the locker room gradually chipping away at
the Mocs lead. With five minutes to go in the game, Thinnes drained
a three pointer to give the Tars a four point lead. This was only
to be followed by back-to-back three's by Mocs guard Will Graham
and guard Braxton Williams giving Florida Southern a 66-64 lead. A
shot from the arc by Thinnes and a layup by senior Isaac Codrey
solidified the win for Rollins 71-69.
Four Moccasins (6-13, 2-7) scored in double figures on Monday
evening. They were led by junior forward Andrei Grant who tallied
16 points, eight rebounds and went five of 12 from the field and
six of seven from the free throw line. Junior Garrett Hull had 14
points, guard Will Graham netted 13 and freshman guard Brandon
McDonald added 10 for Florida Southern.
Rollins will travel to Fort Lauderdale to take on the Nova
Southeastern Sharks (9-10, 4-5) on Saturday, February 3 at 7:30
p.m. Follow the action live on Rollins' home on the web www.RollinsSports.com.
