WINTER PARK, Fla. (December 30, 2023) - Rollins held a halftime lead, but could not keep up with the long-distance barrage of the Saint Leo Lions in the second half as they fell by a score of 77-62 on Saturday. The Tars now stand at 3-8 overall, and 0-4 in the SSC. The Lions improve to 7-5, 2-2 SSC on the year.
It took three minutes for the first points of the game to be scored when
Braxton Barnhizer finished on a nice feed from
Kyle Marion to go up 2-0. Saint Leo would add a field goal and a free throw to make it 3-2 at the first media timeout.
The Rollins twin towers of
Matheus Silveira and
Sergey Grishaev would score the next eight for the Tars, leading to a 10-10 tie. Minutes later, a nifty finish at the rim off a steal from
Kyle Marion gave the Tars a 19-18 lead. The senior guard would continue to cook for the remainder of the half, giving his team the lead twice more before the horn.
Saint Leo would connect on a buzzer-beating three to cut the Tars' lead to one, 28-27 at the half.
Rollins held Saint Leo to 29% shooting in the first half, including just 5-22 (22%) from three. The Tars shot 44.8% from the field, but just 1-12 from distance.
The Lions came roaring out of the locker room in the second half as All-SSC guard Kanon Koster knocked down a trio of triples to put Saint Leo up 36-28. Grishaev would do his best to keep the Tars in the game, scoring six straight to cut the lead to 36-34, but a three from Logan Ryan put the Lions back on top by multiple possessions.
The Rollins offense would go cold, while the Lions were able to convert on many of their possessions, increasing their lead to as high as 16. The final twelve minutes were simply a game of maintaining the advantage, and would lead to a final of 77-62.
Saint Leo knocked down 11-18 three-point attempts in the second half to blow the game open. Rollins was the exact opposite, shooting just 2-14 from deep.
Grishaev poured in 20 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists. Marion and Silveira each added twelve points as well.
Next up for Rollins is a SSC road matchup against Barry in Miami Shores. Tip is schedule fro 7:30 pm on Wednesday, January 3.
