WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 11, 2010) -
Rollins scored 37 first-half points en route to a 64-52 victory
over the Southeastern University Fire on Saturday afternoon in
Warden Arena.
Nick
Wolf led Rollins with 20 points on the afternoon, including
shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and 7-of-11 from
the field. Matt
Robertson and Myk
Brown tacked on 13 and 10 points, respectively, as Rollins
(6-2) got back to their winning ways after a loss to Palm Beach
Atlantic last week.
Igniting the Fire was Jacob Blankenship with a game-high 21
points and 10 rebounds, for the contests only double-double.
Malcolm Pollock posted 14 points of his own, but it wasn't enough
as the Fire drop to 9-5 on the season.
The score teetered in the initial minutes of play, with Pollock
opening the game with a shot from beyond the arc to pull SEU out to
a quick three-point lead. Rollins answered back 16 seconds later
off of a quick finger roll from Wolf, and pulled out to a slim lead
the ensuing trip down court off of a successful jumper from Wolf to
set the score at 4-3 with 18:21 on the clock.
The subsequent five minutes saw five lead changes, with Rollins
finally grabbing onto a two-point advantage thanks to a jumper from
Brown to set the score at 11-9 with 13:09 before the half.
Rollins finally hit their stride in the second part of the first
half, inflating their lead to as much as 19 thanks to a long range
shot from Brett
Chance at the buzzer. Rollins hit the locker room with a
37-18 lead, leading the game in points in the paint 14-8, points
off of turnovers 11-4, fast break points 4-2, and points off of the
bench 8-6.
The Tars opened the second half extending their lead to 22 with
15:47 remaining in the matchup, but the Fire turned up the heat,
burning the Tars' candle from both ends to rapidly melt away their
deficit throughout the remainder of the contest.
Southeastern out-scored the Tars 28-9 in the ensuing 12 and a
half minutes of action, pulling to within five points of Rollins
with a score of 55-50 with 3:25 to go. Despite a the Fire's
intensity, Rollins was able to hunker down in the waning minutes,
extending their lead back out to 12 as the Tars closed out the
final minutes on a 9-2 run.
Rollins shot 93 percent from the stripe, sinking 13-of-14
attempts, while Southeastern University was 11-for-14 from the
charity stripe. SEU was tough on the glass, out-boarding the Tars
36-26, but the Tars made up for it in points from 3-point range as
they out-shot the Fire 24 percent compared to just nine percent
from their opposition.
The Tars return to action on Thursday, December 16, when they
take on Central Washington in the 2010 Las Vegas Great Western
Shootout. Tip-off against the Wildcats is set for 8 p.m. Eastern
Time. Fans will be able to catch all of the all of the action live
on the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
