WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 30, 2008) – Craig
Reichel netted 20 points to lead four Tars in double figures as
Rollins downed Flagler 73-67 to win their fourth straight Winter
Park Rotary Tangerine Tournament championship Tuesday.
Rollins' (8-3) Kevin
Hogan was named to the all-tournament team and added 18 points
with tourney Most Outstanding Player Nick
Wolf notching 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three
steals. Zach
Pancratz was also in double-figures with 14 points.
D.J. Ferguson netted a game-high 32 points on 10-of-12 shooting
for Flagler (7-8) while Ben De La Cruz added 21 points. Both were
named to the all-tournament team.
Rollins and Flagler battled to a 31-31 tie on the glass with the
Saints out-shooting Rollins 49 percent (23-of-47) to 46 percent
(26-of-56). The Tars defense forced 16 Flagler turnovers while only
committing nine miscues of their own.
It was a torrid pace at the beginning as Rollins jumped out to a
19-12 lead seven minutes in, but Flagler came back to knot the
score at 21 halfway through the period.
The Saints took a four point lead late in the first half, led by
the inside-outside game of De La Cruz and Ferguson, but Rollins
continued to say close. A Reichel trey put the Tars up one with
3:20 left, but the Saint answered and a Ferguson long ball with 44
ticks left sent the Tars to the locker room in a 35-33 hole.
The back and forth play continued in the second half with
neither team holding more than a three point lead through the first
16 minutes. With four minutes to go, Ferguson hit a trey to put
Flagler up 61-59, but Rollins rattled off an 8-0 run to take a
seven point advantage with 1:44 to go. The Tars then hit 5-of-7
from the charity stripe down the stretch to hold on for the
victory.
The Winter Park Rotary Tangerine Tournament win was the 14th for
Tars in the 34 year history of the event. Rollins has advanced to
the tourney championship each of the past 10 seasons and has now
won four straight titles.
Rollins will jump into Sunshine State Conference play on
Saturday, January 3 at Saint Leo. The Lions are 6-6 on the season
and will play at Barry on December 31st before battling the Tars
Saturday.
Fans can catch all the action live on the Citizens Bank of
Florida Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
