WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 18, 2023) - Rollins solidified their position for a spot in the SSC championship with a big conference win over Eckerd at home on Saturday. With the 82-76 victory, Rollins moves to 13-13 overall, but more importantly, 9-9 in SSC play (currently good for the #6 seed).
Matheus Silveira was a force down low in this one, and he set the tone early on the first possession, scoring on his patented lefty hook. Eckerd would answer back quickly, and held a 11-7 lead heading into the first media timeout. Consecutive layups from
Kyle Marion and
John Latimer III would make it a one possession game, and roughly five minutes later, the Tars would reclaim the lead on a pair of free throws from
Cade Long.
After four tries of pulling within one shot, Eckerd finally retied the game at 26, and took a 29-28 lead shortly thereafter with under five minutes to play in the first. After a Triton offensive foul, Marion knocked down a big three, followed by a stepback jumper from
Hutton Yenor to tie the game at 35. Four free throws late in the half gave Rollins a 39-37 advantage heading into the break.
Rollins came out stroking in the second half, scoring on their first four possessions, two of which were Silveira doing work in the post. Eckerd was able to fight back, and had a lead as high as five points. Silveira played his part, knocking down another layup right before the media timeout to make the score 52-49.
The next few minutes saw little offense and phenomenal defense from both sides. With Eckerd clinging on to their slim lead, a steal from Yenor led to a wide open three for Marion, who cut the lead to 61-59 with the make. After a flurry of missed shots from both ends, a Long three and a Silveira hook shot gave Rollins the lead once more.
The final five minutes saw a ton of fouls being called, and Rollins took advantage. From the 5:51 mark to zeroes on the clock, the Tars knocked down eight of ten chances from the stripe. The highlight of the game came on a turnover caused by tough defense from Marion and
Cameron Corcoran, who launched the ball ahead to a streaking Latimer who threw down a ferocious jam to get the crowd energy going. that play gave Rollins a four point lead, and they never looked back, taking home an impressive 82-76 win.
Silveira scored a team-high 24 points on a ridiculous 10-11 shooting. He was also 4-6 from the line. The Brazilian also snatched ten rebounds to give himself a double-double, and added five blocks to his ledger. Marion had a final line of 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Yenor scored 19 to keep pace with his season average.
Next up for the Tars is a road date with the Embry-Riddle Eagles (17-7, 10-7 SSC). Tipoff is Wednesday, February 22 at 7:30 PM.
