LAKELAND, Fla. (January 22, 2025) - Rollins could not overcome a large first-half deficit, eventually falling to the Florida Southern Mocs 98-82 on Wednesday. The loss drops the Tars to 11-8 on the year, with a 4-6 record in the SSC. The Mocs improve to 16-4, 7-3 SSC.
A three on the first possession from
Sergey Grishaev gave Rollins a lead, but the Mocs answered with twelve straight points to blow open the game. A dunk from Grishaev snapped the streak, followed by a layup by
Matus Malovec and a triple from
Beau Frericks to make it 17-10.
Rollins would not get any closer than seven points for the remainder of the half.
Emilis Butkus kept them in the game with six points around the middle of the half, but the Mocs seemed to have an answer for every Tar bucket. Southern would take a 51-36 lead into the break.
Rollins shot 43% from the floor in the first half, but the Mocs were cooking at 58%, converting 21 field goal attempts.
The second half saw a much closer matchup with the two teams combining for a 47-46 battle in the Mocs' favor. The first two minutes of the half had a total of twelve points scored between the squads. Rollins could not get enough stops on defense to make a run a Florida Southern maintained their double-digit cushion.
Grishaev was a bright spot for Rollins, scoring in the paint on monster dunks, while also showcasing his range by knocking down threes. He would end the game with a career-high 30 points on an efficient 13-19 from the floor. He also finished with a double-double, adding ten boards.
Frericks and Butkus each added 19 points as well. On defense, the Tars did a good job of limiting one of the top scorers in the SSC, Jadin Booth, to just 13 points on 4-12 shooting. Conversely, the Mocs' top three scorers on the night combined to shoot 22-31 (71%) from the floor.
Next up for Rollins is a home game against Barry on Saturday, January 25. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 pm from Warden Arena.
