WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 29, 2009) -
Rollins surrendered just three points over the final six minutes
as the 12th-ranked Tars men's basketball team downed Shaw
University 76-58 in the semifinals of the 35th annual Winter Park
Rotary Tangerine Tournament, Tuesday.
Rollins (9-1) advances to play Clayton State in the tournament
championship game at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, December 30 in Warden
Arena. The Lakers made their way to the title game by way of an
82-60 win over UMass-Lowell in the other semifinal.
Nick Wolf netted 20 points
and handed out five assists to lead the Rollins offense. Myk Brown was a
perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe and added 18 points while Matt
Robertson chipped in eight points and a game-high 10
rebounds.
Rodney Callwood paced the Bears (5-3) with 21 points and seven
rebounds while Britain Kelly netted 15 points.
Rollins shot 65 percent in the second half and ended the game
27-of-50 (54 percent) while Shaw hit 49 percent (23-of-47) from the
field. The Tars held a slight edge on the boards, 29-25 and forced
17 Shaw turnovers while committing 13 miscues.
Julian Wilkison hit a trey
on the Tars first trip down the floor to start the scoring of a
close first half. Robertson added a 3-pointer at the 13 minute mark
to put the Tars up 15-10, but the Bears flipped the script and
rattled off a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to go ahead 19-15.
Callwood had six during the spurt with Raheem Smith providing a
3-pointer.
Rollins responded with an 11-0 run over the next three minutes,
punctuated by a Brown old-fashioned three point play. Shaw gave
another run at the Tars and pulled to within one in the waning
moments of the half before four straight Wolf points put the Tars
up 36-31 at the break.
The Tars pushed the lead to as much as 13, 52-39 over the first few
minutes of the second half, then saw Callwood take over again and
pull the Bears to within five, 57-52 with just under eight minutes
to play. That would be as close as Shaw would get as they hit just
two more field goals the rest of the way and Rollins continued to
say hot for the 18 point victory.
Rollins advances to the finals of the Winter Park Rotary Tangerine
Tournament for the 12th straight time and will be seeking its sixth
straight tournament title. The Tars and Clayton State last met in
the 2003 Tangerine championship game with Rollins winning
60-55.
Fans can catch all the action on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com or locally on 91.5 FM, WPRK.
