WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 17, 2023) - Men's basketball secured their first win of the season on Friday, taking down the Warner Royals by a score of 67-61. Rollins moves to 1-2 on the season with the win.
Cody Potter was the first Tar on the board for the second straight game, knocking down a triple on the team's first possession. After a small scoreless stint,
Kyle Marion nailed two jumpers while
Rivers Lenholt hit from distance to put Rollins up 10-4 at the first media timeout.
After a Warner run tied things up at twelve,
Matheus Silveira and
Braxton Barnhizer each connected to regain the lead at 16-14. Unfortunately, it was short-lived as the Royals scored on their next four of their next five possessions to go up 21-17.
A few minutes later, Marion sparked a comeback with a free throw, followed by a make from
Sergey Grishaev, and a pair of free throws from freshman
Jack Kronauge, the first points of his career. After Warned knocked down a three, Marion scored five points in a row to keep Rollins afloat. They would end up taking a 34-31 lead into the halftime break.
Shooting wise, the two teams were pretty even in the first half, with Warner scoring at a 41.7% clip against Rollins' 40%. the Tars had more threes and free throws, however.
Coach
Tom Klusman had a simple gameplan to start the second half ... feed the big man. Silveira had a touch on each of the Tars' first four possessions of the second half, scoring six points. He was also effective on the defensive side, swatting a pair of shots within a minute of each other. Strong guard play resulted in more points for the Tars as
Cade Long hit a triple along with a nice finish at the rim from Potter, putting Rollins ahead 46-39.
At the halfway point, Warner pulled within four, but Marion found his way to the charity stripe and knocked down a pair of free throws to keep a cushion. Marion would end up at the line twelve times in the game, knocking down nine of them.
Kronauge was a spark plug off the bench, providing a number of hustle plays, including a full on sprint and dive for a steal on an inbounds pass. He also converted on a nifty reverse layup, scoring two more of his eight points.
Warner made one final push, pulling within four with a minute to go, but Silveira wrapped things up with two more paint points with under twenty to go, making the final of 67-61.
Silveira was the leading scorer with 19 points to go with his five rebounds and three blocks. Marion had 16 points and dished out seven helpers. Potter led the team in rebounds with eight, and Long was a thief on the defensive end, recording eight steals.
The Tars will be back in action on Monday, November 20 at home against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
