LAS VEGAS, Nev. (December 19, 2008) – Down
by one with four seconds to play, Nick
Wolf drove to the basket and was knocked to the floor, but
there was no whistle and Rollins fell to Missouri Western 67-66 in
Las Vegas Friday night.
The thriller saw 16 lead changes and was played as part of the
2008 Las Vegas High Desert Classic, hosted by Central Missouri
State at Desert Oasis High School.
Jeremy
Sharpe led Rollins (5-3) with 13 points behind 3-of-6 shooting
from 3-point range. Nick
Wolf and Kevin
Hogan each netted 12 while Zach
Pancratz poured in 11 and added five assists.
Dominique Thurston led the Missouri Western (4-4) with a
game-high 20 points. Lonnel Johnson and Quentin Noblin each tallied
15 points.
The Tars shot 55 percent (26-47) from the floor, but committed
19 turnovers to just 16 assists.
After a Griffons basket to start the game, Sharpe sparked a 7-0
Tars run to give Rollins a 7-2 lead with 16:38 left in the first
half. The advantage would prove to be the Tars largest of the game
as both teams traded baskets throughout the half. Missouri Western
took their biggest lead of the night at the 8:39 mark of the first
half as back-to-back three pointers by Johnson and Noblin, followed
by a Noblin lay-in put the Griffons up 23-17.
Hogan quickly erased the lead with a pair of bombs from
beyond-the-arc to knot the score at 23. Rollins ended the frame on
a 5-0 run and took a 34-30 lead into the break.
Rollins went back up by five early in the second half, but the
Griffons came back with a 12-2 run and took a five point lead of
their own, 44-39, with 17:20 to play. The tight play continued
throughout the half with a Johnson 3-pointer making it 67-61 in
favor of Missouri Western with 3:18 to go.
Craig
Reichel converted an old fashioned 3-pont play with 2:20 left
to make the lead three and after a Hogan steal, Wolf scored on the
other end to cut the advantage to one with 42 ticks on the clock.
Johnson turned it over for the Griffons to give Rollins a chance to
win with 12 seconds left. Wolf squared up on the elbow, drove down
the lane and was muscled to the ground, but no call was made and
the Tars suffered their third loss of the season.
Rollins will complete the High Desert Classic on Saturday,
December 20 against North Alabama at 7:15 p.m. EST. Fans can catch
the action live on the Citizens Bank of Florida Tars Sports Network
at RollinsSports.com.
