MELBOURNE, Fla. (January 29, 2022) – The Rollins men's basketball team came back to win its fifth straight game on Saturday with a 67-65 victory at Florida Tech. With the win, Rollins moves to 12-9 overall and 7-6 in league play, while Florida Tech drops to 9-9, 3-7 against SSC opponents.
Hutton Yenor poured in a game-high 23 points and grabbed three steals while
Cade Long tallied 10 points, five rebounds, and four assists.
Brooks Cluxton posted a game-high 14 boards and seven assists to go along with eight points, while
Kyle Marion added nine points in 16 minutes of action.
Sean Houpt led the the Panthers with 17 points, converting on 5-of-10 three-point attempts, while Sesan Russel scored 14 points to go along with six rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Niall Harris (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Mate Papai (12 points, 11 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles for Florida Tech.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Half
- Yenor scored on the game's opening possession, but Florida Tech scored the next 10 points to take an early 10-2 lead.
- The Panther advantage reached double-digits (25-15) at the 8:36 mark, and ballooned to as many as 13 points points (34-21) with 4:01 to go in the half.
- The Tars closed out the period on a 9-0 run, with Marion accounting for all nine points, trimming the deficit to just three (36-33) at the break.
Second Half
- Florida Tech scored the first nine points of the second half, extending its lead to 12 points (45-33) less than three minutes into the frame.
- Rollins chipped away at the lead, using a 6-0 run to get within six (47-41) at the 14:04 mark.
- A few minutes later, the Tars rattled off 13 straight points, turning a 52-45 deficit into a 58-52 lead over the course of 5:12.
- The Panthers responded by quickly trimming the margin to a point (58-57) with 4:11 to play.
- A jumper by Yenor gave Rollins a 65-62 lead with 1:37 on the clock.
- Florida Tech got a steal and a layup with 36 seconds to go, making it a 65-64 game.
- The Tars called timeout and came out with a solid possession, using nearly the entire shot clock before Cluxton converted a jumper, putting Rollins up 67-64 with six seconds left.
- Rollins wisely committed two fouls before Florida Tech could get a look at the basket, forcing the Panthers to shoot a one-and-one with two seconds to go.
- Florida Tech's Russell made the first but missed the second, and Cluxton pulled down the rebound that secured the 67-65 win.
UP NEXT:
Rollins will return home to face Florida Southern on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Warden Arena.
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