WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 13, 2021) - The Rollins Tars were red hot from the field in their impressive 101-77 win against the Auburn Montgomery Warhawks on Saturday night. The win moves Rollins to 2-0 on the season, while AUM evens up at 1-1.
How it happened:
- Rollins put the first points on the board when Hutton Yenor forced a steal and found a leaking Dayton Gumm for a fast break layup. The Tars took the lead on the play, and would not give it up for the rest of the night. A Yenor triple and three free throws from Brooks Cluxton gave Rollins an 8-0 lead heading into the media timeout. The Warhawks were able to claw their way back into the game, and pull within two at 13-11, but a three-point play from Cluxton extended the lead back out to five. Moments later, Cody Potter made a splash with a nice layup in the paint, followed by two three-pointers to make it a 24-16 game at the 8:28 mark.
- AUM's James Graham did his best to keep his squad in the game, hitting five jump shots from the short corner area. Once the Rollins zone was able to adjust their rotation, they shut down what had been AUM's only consistent method of scoring early on. Cluxton continued to dominate in the paint adding three more baskets over a two-minute stretch late in the first half. Dayton Gumm then took things over, knocking down three long-range triples in the final 2:15 of the half, including a double-clutch buzzer beater that gave Rollins a 47-31 lead at the break.
- Will Erickson opened up the second half with a make from deep, followed by a Kyle Marion jumper and a Yenor lay-in to make the score 54-33. Moments later, Yenor nailed back to back threes in a 30-second stretch to give Rollins a 62-44 lead with 14 minutes to play. Head coach Tom Klusman used his bench depth, sending in subs regularly to keep everyone fresh. It seemed that no matter who was in the game, they were ready to shoot. Sergey Grishaev and Cade Long each knocked down a three and a layup around the ten-minute mark to the delight of the home crowd. Grishaev in particular looked like a Russian Kyrie Irving, displaying his impressive dribbling skills and layup package.
- With the game well in hand late, a number of Tars had milestone moments. Brookes Kahlert made his collegiate debut, and dazzled the crowd with a handful of nifty dribbles and passes. He nailed a three from the corner for his first career points late in the game. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Woods also earned his first career bucket with a thunderous two-hand slam. A three-point play from Woods under a minute pushed the Tars score over te century mark, with the game ending 101-77.
Six Tars scored in double figures, led by Grishaev's 15. Cluxton had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Dayton Gumm and
Cody Potter each finished with 14 points as well, and shot a combined 7-7 from three-point range. Marion and Yenor each went for eleven points. Defensively, Rollins limited the Warhawks to 40.8% shooting and only 23.8% from three. The Tars had eight steals and forced ten turnovers.
Next up for Rollins is their first road game of the year. The Tars will travel to St, Augustine on Tuesday, November 16th to take on the Flagler College Saints. First tip is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
