MONTEVALLO, Ala. (March 10, 2007) ' The Rollins
men's basketball team advanced to the NCAA South Region Tournament
semifinals with a win over 7th seeded Valdosta State 61-60. The
Tars fell last season in the semifinals against the University of
Montevallo 81-68.
Point guard Jonny Reibel led Rollins with 25 points, 15 of which
came in the first half. Reibel was 77 percent from the field, while
going a perfect three of three from three point range. Kevin Hogan
notched all of his 14 points in the second half, and senior Isaac
Codrey chipped in nine points and dished out four assists for the
Tars.
In the first stanza, Rollins and Valdosta State (20-9) traded
basket for basket. With five minutes left in the half, the Tars and
Blazers were tied for the fifth time, 23-23. Codrey's free throw
put Rollins up by two with three and half minutes remaining, but a
three pointer by the Blazers Richard Lusane gave Valdosta State the
one point lead over Rollins. A two point bucket by Jamahl Stokes
put the Blazers up by three with two minutes in the period. A
clutch lay-up by Reibel at the 34 second mark cut Valdosta State's
lead to only one point over Rollins at the half, 31-30.
Valdosta State came out to play in the second half, leading the
Tars by as many as five points with seven minutes left in the
quarterfinal game. Rollins began to rally back with a three pointer
Reibel at the four minute mark, slashing the Blazer's lead to only
one, 54-53. Hogan launched a trey and then followed it up with a
lay-up to give the Tars a four-point lead 58-54. Lusane hit a
clutch three pointer for the Blazers to put them down by only one.
On the next play, Lusane was fouled on the three point line and
headed to the charity stripe, knocking down all three shots to give
his team the two point lead with two minutes left in the game,
60-58. With 17 seconds remaining in the game, Codrey passed the
ball to an open Craig Reichel who knocked down a three to win the
game for the Tars.
Lusane led Valdosta State with 25 points, and Stokes followed
him with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers.
'I had a horrible first half, and I really wanted to make a play
for the team,' Reichel said. 'I honestly didn't know how much time
was left when I took the three point shot. It felt great when it
left my hands and it felt even better to help my teammates advance
to the semifinals.'
'Usually when we get beat on the boards, we don't win basketball
games,' Coach Tom Klusman said. 'Our guys did a phenomenal job down
the stretch and I'm really proud of them.'
The Tars (25-6) will be back in action tomorrow, March 11, when
they take on the Eckerd Tritons in the semifinals at 6:00 p.m.
(5:00 p.m. Central Time). Log on to www.RollinsSports.com for the
live audio broadcast as well as the most up-to-date news and
photos.
