CHARLOTTE, N.C. - (November 21, 2014) - Rollins
nearly erased a 15-point second half deficit, but the comeback ran
out of time as the Tars fell to Livingstone College 89-82 in the
opening game of the Johnson C. Smith Tip off Classic in
Charlotte.
The loss is the second-straight for the Tars (2-2) after opening
the year with two convincing wins over Clark Atlanta and Paine.
Alex
Blessig led the Tars with an efficient 14 points, shooting
5-of-9 from the field (2-4 three pointers) and hitting both free
throw attempts. He also added four assists and four steals.
Freshman Jeff
Merton pumped in a career-high 15 points and handed out five
assists while Mike
Bedulskis added 10 points and five assists off the bench.
Hakeem Jackson led the Blue Bears (1-0) and all scorers with 27
points, shooting 10-of-18 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free
throw line. Eric Dubose netted 24 points while Eric Mayo chipped in
11 points and eight rebounds.
Livingstone beat the Tars on the glass 39-26, including a 14-7
edge on the offensive end, and shot 57 percent (31-54) from the
field to Rollins' 50 percent (29-58).
Rollins led 10-5 early, but quickly fell into a 20-12 hole after
seven minutes of action. Sam Phillpott cut into the lead with a
pair of 3-pointers sandwiched around a Sharif
Almulla jumper, making the count 22-20.
Kyle
Koszuta later hit from 3-point rage and closed the gap to 24-23
before the Bears rolled off a 12-0 run and led 36-23 with 6:19 left
in the half. The Tars got to within nine before ultimately heading
into the locker room down 49-36.
Rollins trailed 63-51 midway through the second before Blessig
got hot from the outside, scoring seven of the Tars next nine
points and drawing Rollins to within 63-60 with 9:59 to play. After
a timeout, Livingstone tried to pull away again, but another Kozuta
3-pointer and Bedulskis jumper again cut the lead to three.
The Tars defense forced tough shots in crunch time, but the
Bears responded and pulled away 86-75 with 1:43 left. A Blessig
layup, Jeff
Dirkin dunk and Almulla free throw cut that lead in half, but
that would be as close as the Tars would get the rest of the
night.
Rollins will look to get back to its winning ways on Saturday,
November 22 facing host Johnson C. Smith at 4 p.m. Saturday in
Charlotte. The game was originally scheduled for 6 p.m. but will
now be played two hours earlier. Fans can follow all the action
live on the Geico Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and
locally on 91.5 FM WPRK.
