Tars Close the Year With Big Win Over Mocs

LAKELAND, Fla. (December 31, 2021) – The Tars returned to their winning ways, dominating from start to finish in Lakeland, on their way to a 96-77 win over Florida Southern.  With the victory the Tars improve to 7-6 overall, and 2-3 in Sunshine State Conference play.  The Mocs fall to 5-8, and 2-3 in conference action.
 
Hutton Yenor led the way in a balanced scoring day for Rollins.  The senior tallied 24 points, shooting 11-19 from the field, to go along with nine rebounds, six assists, and two steals.  Kyle Marion netted 22 points, and six assists and two steals of his own.  Brooks Cluxton earned a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Oviedo native shot 8-11 from the field.  Cade Long tallied 15 points off the bench, including a 3-4 performance from beyond the arc.  Overall the Tars shot 56.3% from the field, and 47.8% from deep.  The Tars out rebounded Florida Southern, 36-23, and outscored the Mocs by 20 points, 48-28, in the paint.
 
Florida Southern was led by an 18 point performance from Jack Casale.  Deandre Campbell, Xavier Rhodes, and Tarik McKelphin also tallied double digits for the Mocs.  McKelphin led Florida Southern with seven boards, while Dominick Denny tallied six assists off the bench.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half

• A Kyle Marion jumper and a Hutton Yenor layup gave Rollins a quick 4-0 lead, but the Mocs responded with five straight points to take a 5-4 lead.
• The Tars responded with a 12-0 run over the next five minutes, and would not trail again.  The streak was bookended by three point shots by Dayton Gumm and Marion.
• Florida Southern ended the run with a free throw, but the Tars continued their hot shooting.  Cade Long tallied a fast break three pointer and a mid range jump shot as the Tars took a 16 point lead, 25-9, into the under 12 minute media timeout.
• The Mocs came out of the break and downed four consecutive three pointers.  Brooks Cluxton broke the 12-0 streak with a layup, making the score 27-21.
• As the clock ticked under seven minutes, the Tars kicked off a 12-1 run.  Sergey Grishaev started the stretch with a corner three, Yenor tallied a layup and a jump shot, and Marion sunk another triple to give Rollins a 39-24 advantage.
• Rollins closed the half with a 9-0 run over the final four minutes.  Cody Potter made a triple, Brooks Cluxton made a layup, scoring on a back door cut and assist from Marion, and finally Yenor hit a pair of free throws and a driving layup to make score 48-30 at the break.

Second Half

• Both offenses came out of the locker room on fire, trading buckets on seemingly every possession over the first five minutes.  Yenor made an alley-oop layup, Marion hit a three pointer, and Cluxton converted a pair of layups to highlight the offensive outburst for Rollins made the score 63-48 with 15 minutes remaining.
• The Mocs shrunk the Rollins lead down to 13, but layups by Tyler Woods and Marion, and a jump shot from Yenor restored the Tars' commanding lead at the 12 minute mark.
• Out of the media timeout Cade Long hit a pair of three pointers and a driving layup to help the Tars grow the lead to 21 points.
• The Tars continued to pull away down the stretch.  Kyle Marion hit three free throws, Cade Long went coast-to-coast for a layup, and Hutton Yenor hit a jump shot, as Rollins grew their lead to as much as 27, at 93-66.
• With the game in hand, the Tars saw out the final minutes, on the way to a 96-77 victory.

UP NEXT:
Rollins will return to Winter Park to face off against the Lynn Fighting Knights.  Tip off is scheduled for Sunday, January 2, at 4 p.m.
 
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