WINTER PARK, Fla. (January 13, 2024) - Rollins put together one of their top performances of the season on Saturday, taking down conference rival Tampa, 88-84. The win moves the Tars to 5-10 on the year and 2-6 in the SSC while Tampa matches them at 5-10, but a 1-6 record in the SSC.
A
Sergey Grishaev three opened the game, followed by three straight makes from
Matheus Silveira to put Rollins up 9-3 and force an early Tampa timeout. The Tars would add a ferocious dunk from Silveira on a nice dribble drive, followed by a three from
Dylan Wolle as they led 4-7 at the first media timeout.
The next segment of play saw Silveira score four more points and Wolle add another three, putting Rollins up 23-14 as the Spartans struggled to find an answer on defense.
Rollins would balloon their lead all the way to 49-28 when
Kyle Marion knocked down a free throw with 55 seconds to go. Tampa kept fighting however, and put up seven points in the final eleven seconds to make it 49-35 at the break.
Bryan Williams came out of the break hot for Tampa, scoring or assisting on the first ten points for the Spartans. Thankfully, Rollins was able to match most of the buckets as they maintained their double digit lead.
At the 9:49 mark, Silveira converted on his patented left hook, making it 70-53 as it seemed the Tars had the game in the bag. Tampa had other plans, though. A Zach Johnson jumper would spark a 13-0 run that spanned more than five-and-a-half minutes as they pulled all the way to 70-66.
With all the momentum on the Spartans' side, Silveira threw down a monster dunk off a feed from Wolle, and then fed
Sergey Grishaev for an open layup to halt the run. Grishaev would score on three straight possessions for the Tars as he was able to get open down low.
Rollins would lock in at the free throw line late, going 8-8 from the charity stripe to ice the game and take home a 88-84 win.
Silveira stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points on 12-14 shooting while adding eight rebounds and five assists. Three other Tars hit double digits in scoring, with Marion dropping 16, Grishaev adding 16, and Wolle pouring in 12. Williams ended with a game-high 27 for the Spartans.
Next up for Rollins is a road game in Daytona as they take on Embry-Riddle on Saturday, January 20. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 pm.
