ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (January 15, 2025) -
Emilis Butkus shot a perfect 11-11 from the floor in the Tars 78-67 win over the Eckerd Tritons on Wednesday. The win moves Rollins to 10-7 on the year, and 3-5 in SSC play. The Tritons fall to 8-9, 3-6 SSC.
Eckerd jumped out to an early lead, but Rollins answered quickly with makes from
John Latimer III,
Beau Frericks, Butkus, and
Matus Malovec to put Rollins on top at the first media timeout.
Rollins kept up with the hot shooting, maintaining their advantage for most of the first half. Eckerd did make a run, and retook the lead with seven minutes to go. After the teams traded buckets, Rollins ended the half with a
Sergey Grishaev layup and a buzzer-beater from Frericks to take a 41-38 lead into the break.
The Tars were 17-31 (55%) in the first half, including 5-10 (50%) from three.
The second half saw both teams come out hot, with Eckerd managing to tie the game twice in the first few minutes. Butkus knocked down his third three of the game at the 17:13 mark, putting Rollins up 46-43. They would not give up the lead for the remainder of the game.
Eckerd did not have an answer for Butkus as he began to use his size advantage to get good looks in the paint. He converted multiple three-point plays, and scored 16 points in the second half.
He would end the game with 27 points on 11-11 shooting. Frericks added 16 points and four assists, while Grishaev was good for 14 points and six rebounds.
Next up for Rollins is a home game against Embry-Riddle on Saturday, January 18. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 pm from Warden Arena.
