Rollins welcomes Puerto Rico Bayamon to Warden Arena Monday
night looking to bounce back from Friday's season opening loss to
Warner.
The Tars (0-1) struggled from the field against the Royals and
fell 58-50. Dave Diakite tallied 13 points to lead Rollins'
offense. Kyle McClanahan added nine points, six rebounds, three
assists and four steals while Brett Chance netted nine.
Rollins was up 46-40 with seven minutes to play, but missed
seven in a row from the field and fell behind 51-47 by the 2:21
mark. Warner then hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line down the
stretch to shut the door on the Tars.
The Tars roster this season features six Division I transfers,
four of which are new to the team this year. Seniors Brett Chance
(Canisius) and Dave Diakite (UCF) were both key players on last
season's squad. Adam Allen (Florida), Kyle McClanahan (Florida),
Lukas Winegarner (Radford) and Mitch Woods (Appalachian St.) are
all in their first season in the Blue & Gold. Along with Chance
and Diakite, the Tars have five returners to go along with three
redshirt freshmen.
Head Coach Tom Klusman continues his quest for 600 victories and
currently has a career record of 590-330. His Tars have been the
most successful team in the Sunshine State Conference over the last
decade, posting a record of 223-75.
Puerto Rico Bayamon (1-2) is coming off an 85-77 loss to Florida
Tech on Friday night. The one-two punch of Carlos Ramos and Victor
Caratini represented the bulk of the Cowboys offense. Ramos shot
12-22 from the field, including six 3-pointers, and poured in 32
points. Caratini controlled the paint and pounded out 20 points.
Bayamon shot 57 percent from the field and outrebounded Tech
29-28.
Bayamon hosted a tipoff tournament to start the season, falling
to Belmont Abbey 59-57 and beating St. Thomas Aquinas College
68-64.
Ramos leads the season box score with 19 points a game while
Caratini is putting up 13 a night. Hector Garcia adds 12.6 a game
after scoring 24 against St. Thomas Aquinas.
Rollins will quickly turn around and host Puerto Rico Rio
Piedras in a Wednesday matinee with tipoff scheduled for Noon.
