WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 22, 2010) -
Rollins shot 45 free throws on the night and made them count
down the stretch as the 17th-ranked Tars posted an 87-81
win over Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Monday.
Myk
Brown was just 3-of-8 from the field, but hit 14-of-16 from the
charity stripe to lead Rollins (4-1) with 20 points. Matt
Robertson converted 12-of-15 freebies en route to 19 points
while Nick
Wolf, the current Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week,
tallied his third straight double-double with 19 points and 10
rebounds. Brett
Chance chipped in 12 points off the bench.
Joseph Vegerano poured in a game-high 26 to lead three Gallitos
(0-2) in double figures. Jose Lopez added 17 while Angel Acevedo
netted 16.
The Tars made their living at the free throw line, converting
37-of-45 (82 percent), including 25-of-28 in the second half. They
needed just 16 shots from the field in the second half and shot
22-of-43 (52 percent) in the game. Rio Piedras was 30-of-59 (51
percent) from the field and just 9-of-16 (56 percent) from the
stripe.
Rollins held a five-point lead after the first five minutes, but
that was short lived as the Gallitos tied the score at 13-13 with
12 minutes to play in the half. Nikola
Baran hit from 3-point range on the Tars next trip down the
floor and ignited an 11-2 Rollins run to put the home team up 27-15
at the 8:06 mark.
The Tars were up by as much as 14 in the middle of the first
half, but Rio Piedras chipped away in waning minutes and pulled to
within one, 42-41, by halftime thanks to a Lopez, half court hurl
that banked in at the buzzer.
Rio Piedras jumped out to a three-point lead, 46-43 over the
first three minutes of the second half, but Rollins responded with
a 10-0 run to regain control 53-46 with 14:38 to play.
The Gallitos slowly closed the gap and used a 6-0 run to knot
the score at 69 with four minutes to play. A Baran 3-pointer
started a 7-0 Rollins run and was followed by 11 of 12 free throws
down the stretch to give the Tars their third straight win.
Rollins will squeeze one more game in before the Thanksgiving
holiday and complete a four games-in-seven days home stand, hosting
Ave Maria at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Fans can catch the
action live on the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
