WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 8, 2024) - Men's basketball put together a stellar performance in their season debut on Friday, defeating the Spring Hill Badgers 107-98. Rollins now stands at 1-0, 0-0 SSC.
Both teams came out firing in this one, with John Latimer and
Emilis Butkus knocking down threes on each of the Tars first two possessions. The Badgers battled back from the early deficit, and would go on to take a 14-11 lead five minutes in.
Sergey Grishaev had the hot hand coming out of the timeout, scoring on four of five possessions. Meanwhile, the Tars defense held Spring Hill without a field goal for nearly four minutes. However, they scored seven points in only 43 seconds, regaining the lead at 25-23.
A Timothy Reilly putback gave Spring Hill a 31-30 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the half. Beau Freiricks answered with a three, giving the Tars a 33-31 lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
A flurry of scoring, including twelve points in the last two minutes, led to a 51-45 Rollins lead at halftime. The Tars shot 17-33 (52%) from the floor, 7-14 (50%) from three, and 10-12 (83%) from the free throw line.
Spring Hill pulled within three to start the second half, but Frericks, Grishaev, and Butkus scored on consecutive possessions to expand the lead to 60-50.
Again, the Badgers refused to go down without a fight, and battled all the way back to 65-64 thanks to a three straight made threes. The Tars turned to the old reliable, Butkus, to help them out, and he did just that, knocking down a three on the next possession.
Dylan Wolle then got in on the fun, splashing a pair of triples as well, keeping a nice cushion in place for Rollins.
The game would not get closer than a six-point lead from that point as the Tars continued display an efficient offense, while also playing tough defense. They eventually held on for a statement 107-98 win.
Frericks led the offense with 28 points on 10-14 shooting, ten assists, and three rebounds. Grishaev poured in 23 points with eight boards, Butkus hit six triples en route to 22 points, and Latimer added 18 points and five assists.
Rollins ended the game 36-63 (57%) from the floor, including a lights out 15-27 (55%) from long range. They also went 20-23 from the free throw line.
It was the most points scored by the team since February 8, 2022 against Florida Southern, a span of 34 games.
The win was also the first in the head coaching career of
Kevin Hogan, who is serving as the interim head coach this season.
Rollins will get some rest in and hit the court again on Saturday when they host the Edward Waters College Tigers at 4:30 pm. Earlier in the day, Edward Waters defeated Florida Tech 73-65.
