WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 4, 2009) – Second
seeded Rollins advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 BlueCross
BlueShield of Florida Sunshine State Conference Championship with a
71-47 win over seventh seeded Saint Leo at Warden Arena Wednesday
evening.
Rollins improves to 19-9 on the season and will play Nova
Southeastern in the semifinals at 7:30 on Saturday, Mar. 7 at Nova.
Saint Leo's season ends with a record of 15-16.
Nick
Wolf netted a game-high 22 points and gathered seven rebounds
to lead four Tars in double figures. Kevin
Hogan added 18 points with Craig
Reichel and Matt
Robertson each chipping in 10. Reichel also handed out a
game-high eight assists in the contest.
Quentin Cullop paced Saint Leo with 15 points while Jordan Prais
added 13.
Rollins was on all night, shooting 59 percent (24-of-41) from
the field while holding the Lions to just 36 percent (16-of-45)
from the floor. The Tars also earned a 27-22 advantage on the
glass.
Rollins ran out to a 17-7 lead over the first five minutes with
Reichel assisting on five of the Tars buckets during the span.
After Saint Leo chipped into the lead, the Tars again pushed the
advantage to 10 with a nifty backdoor layup from Reichel with eight
minutes to play in the period.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cullop later in the fame got the
Lions to within three, 27-24 with three minutes to go, but Rollins
ended the half on a 7-0, punctuated by a Robertson steal and lay-in
with 11 ticks left. The Tars headed into intermission with momentum
and a 34-24 lead.
The Tars lead ballooned to 19 after the first six minutes of the
second half with three straight Hogan free throws, making the score
46-27. A Hogan conventional 3-pointer at the 6:42 mark pushed the
lead to 22 as Rollins would lead by as much as 25 late in the game
to cruise into the tournament semifinals.
Rollins and Nova Southeastern split in the regular season with
each winning on the road. The third seeded Sharks downed sixth
seeded Lynn 89-84 in overtime Wednesday to earn the trip into the
semifinals.
Fans can catch all the action of the 2009 BlueCross BlueShield
of Florida Sunshine State Conference Championships on the Citizens
Bank of Florida Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
