WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 5, 2023) - Men's basketball suffered their second loss of the year in a 80-73 game against the Lincoln Lions on Wednesday. The Tars now sit at 0-2, while the Lions move to 2-1.
After Lincoln went up early, five straight points from
Cody Potter gave Rollins an early lead. The two teams would then swap leads seven more times before the first media timeout, which saw a 19-19 score.
Ten new players saw the floor after the break, and the Lions scored the next five points to go ahead. A
Kyle Marion three would snap the streak, and Potter followed with a triple as well to pull Rollins within one. The Tars would suffer a three-minute scoreless stretch from there.
Jaden Frazier and
Matheus Silveira each got on the board to make it close, 37-31, at halftime.
Lincoln was hot from the floor, shooting 57% in the first half compared to 42% for Rollins.
Silveira put the team on his back to start the second half, scoring ten of the Tars first twelve points to pull them within three, 46-43. After a Lions steal and score,
Braxton Barnhizer hit a three and Marion cashed a jump shot to tie the game at 48.
Lincoln ripped off a 6-0 run from there, but Marion did everything he could to keep the Tars in the game, scoring eight of their next ten points. Unfortunately, there was a four-minute stretch in that time with zero points for the home team.
The Lions lead reached as high as 14, but the Tars didn't go down without a fight. Barnhizer hit a three, followed by a mid-range jumper from Silveira and a layup from
Dylan Wolle to cut the lead in half.
Marion would add a layup and a deep three with under a minute to go making it a four point game with 40 seconds left. Lincoln was solid from the line to wrap things up though, and held on for a 80-73 win.
Marion led the Rollins attack in this one, finishing with 27 points on 9-17 shooting, five rebounds, and eight assists. Silveira added 19 points, snagged five boards, and swatted six shots on defense. Potter ended his night with a double-double consisting of 13 points and ten rebounds to go with five assists.
Rollins will play their third game of the season on Friday when they take on Warner University at 2:00 pm in Winter Park.
