FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (February 3, 2007) ' The
Rollins College men's basketball team refused to go down against
the Nova Southeastern Sharks 80-79 in their first double overtime
game of the season on Saturday evening at the University Center.
The Tars are now running with a 12 game winning streak under their
belts this season.
Junior Guard Jonny Reibel commanded the Rollins offense in both
overtimes notching a double-double with 16 points and a career-high
12 assists. Reibel went five of eight (67.5 percent) from the floor
and five of eight from the charity stripe. Forward Isaac Codrey
tallied 14 points and four rebounds. Guards Deon Troupe and John
Thinnes both added 13 points to the Tars hard-fought victory over
the Sharks.
In the first half, the Tars were down against the Sharks until
the 11-minute mark when guard John Thinnes hit a three pointer to
tie the game 16-16. With Rollins up by one bucket before halftime,
30-29, Nova guard Oresti Nitsios launched a desperation three
pointer at the buzzer to put the Sharks up 32-30 going into the
locker room.
Rollins came out in the second half firing with Codrey tossing
up a triple in the first 25 seconds. Then, sophomore center Craig
Reichel added a layup to put Rollins up 35-32 within the first
minute of the second period. The Tars and the Sharks traded point
for point throughout the half and with two minutes left, Reichel
made one of two free throw shots to give the Tars a two point edge
57-55. However, forward Diego Aguiar forced the first overtime when
he went inside the paint for a layup to tie the score 57-57.
In the first overtime, Aguiar had the hot hand with eight points
for the Sharks and Reibel with seven points for the Tars. Nova was
up by two points with 44 seconds to go when Reibel drove to the
basket with an uncontested layup to send the game into a second
overtime.
Rollins went into the second overtime with a sense of urgency,
but Nova forward Tim Coenraad hit a three pointer and was then
fouled to make it a four-point-play, 71-67 in favor of the Sharks.
Three free throw shots by Reibel and a trey and a layup by Codrey
put the Tars up 75-72 with 34 seconds remaining. Rollins free throw
shooting was clutch in the final seconds as Troupe made three of
four and Reichel made both of his to give the Tars a four point
lead with one second, 80-76. Nova guard Rhys Martin hit a three
pointer with time expiring, but the Sharks effort was not enough as
Rollins came out on top 80-79.
The Sharks (10-11, 5-6) were led by Aguiar who tallied 25 points
and was 10 of 11 (90.9 percent) from the field. Coenraad added 17
points with five assists and one steal.
The Tars will be back to Sunshine State Conference play against
the University of Tampa Spartans on Wednesday, February 7 at 7:30
p.m. in Warden Arena. Listen to the action live on the web at www.RollinsSports.com.