FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (January 17, 2009) –
Jeremy
Sharpe tied a career high with 32 points to lead Rollins past
Nova Southeastern 83-79 in overtime Saturday.
Rollins (12-4, 5-1 SSC) handed NSU (9-4, 4-1 SSC) their first
Sunshine State Conference loss of the season as the Tars now sit
atop a logjam near the top of the conference standings.
Sharpe was 9-for-17 from the field (5-for-11, 3-pointers) and
9-for-11 from the foul line on the night. The sophomore from St.
Louis hit a pair of clutch shots, the first coming with 10 seconds
left in regulation and the Tars up one. Rollins inbounded the ball
with the shot clock running down and Sharpe drained a step-back
jumper to put the Tars up three. In overtime, he hit a pair of free
throws with 1:12 to go to tie the score, and then supplied the
dagger with a trey on the next Rollins possession.
Craig
Reichel added 11 points, including a pair from the stripe with
one second left to seal the win. Nick
Wolf tallied his sixth double-double of the season with 10
points and 11 rebounds. Nikola
Baran chipped in 11 points off the bench while Kevin
Hogan added 10 points before getting popped in the eye and
sitting out the final nine minutes.
Tim Coenraad scored 23 points to lead the Sharks while Dionte
Perry tallied 16 points and 11 rebounds. David Naylor put up seven
points for NSU and pulled down 12 rebounds.
The Tars triumphed despite their worst shooting night of the
season as they hit just 21-of-58 (36 percent) from the floor,
including going 11-of-29 (38 percent) from beyond the arc. Nova
turned in a 29-of-66 (44 percent) performance from the field and
earned a 45-38 edge on the boards.
Rollins controlled the tempo much of the first half and jumped
out to a 22-12 lead over the first nine minutes. The Sharks then
rolled out a 13-5 run to cut the lead to two with 6:22 remaining in
the half. Baran kept the Tars on top after getting fouled shooting
a three and hitting all from the line, then draining a trey to put
the Tars up six late in the stanza. Rollins gathered all the
momentum heading into the locker room as Sharpe was good on a three
pointer in the final minute, making the score 43-31 at the
half.
Reichel laid one in two minutes into regulation to put the Tars
up 18, 51-33, but just when it looked like Rollins would begin to
run away, the Sharks started to chip away at the lead. Rollins'
advantage evaporated to one with 9:53 to go, but a Wolf trey gave
them some breathing room at 57-53. Rollins was up by seven with
five minutes to go, but the Sharks got it back to one, 67-66 with
45 ticks left. On the next trip down the floor, Rollins was up
against the shot clock when Sharpe was good on a jumper at the
buzzer from just inside the arc, putting Rollins up 69-66. NSU
quickly pushed the ball up the floor and Coenraad drained a 30 foot
three pointer with three seconds left, sending the game into
overtime.
Two straight Coenraad 3-pointers to start the extra time pushed
the Sharks up by five, but the Tars rolled off a 5-0 run to pull
even at 77-77 with 1:12 to go. After a stop on defense, Sharpe
nailed a fade away 3-pointer with two guys in his face, putting
Rollins ahead 80-77. Reichel then went 3-of-4 from the line down
the stretch to give the Tars the win.
Rollins will take a step back from conference play on Wednesday,
January 21; hosting Palm Beach Atlantic a 7 p.m. in the Alfond
Sports Center. Fans can catch all the action live on the Citizens
Bank of Florida Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
