Tars rally, survive scare from Tampa!

The Rollins College Tars always seem to get the Tampa Spartans "best shot" and once again Saturday the Tars got all they could handle before defeating Tampa 61-59. The Tars improved to 19-4 on the season and 10-2 in the SSC. Tampa fell to 10-12 overall and 4-9 in the Sunshine State Conference with the loss.

The Tars tallied four players in double figures Saturday. Brock Blanchard matched his season high with 13 points. Matt Robertson and Nikola Baran each netted 12 points while Nick Wolf continued both his streaks Saturday. Wolf posted his fourth consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Wolf ran his streak of consecutive games in double figures to 57.

Anthony Lebruno led all scorers with 20 points including 5 of 9 from distance. Marcus Morrison just missed a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Rashaad Calloway rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 for UT.

The Tars and Spartans each shot an identical 41.5 percent for the game. The Tars hit 10 of 22 from long range and the Spartans went 12 of 33 from beyond the arc. The Tars won a close battle on the glass 34-33. Tampa only got to the foul line 3 times but made good on all three. The Tars were only 7 of 14 at the stripe.

The Spartans jumped out to a early 10-3 lead in the first 5 minutes. The Tars would answer though with a 16-2 run to go up 19-12. Tampa would go on a run of their own to cut the Tars lead to one late in the first half. The Tars would go up 30-28 going into the intermission.

The Spartans would come out sizzling and open up a 12 point lead at 46-34. Rollins would then catch fire from beyond the arc. Nikola Baran would bury three consecutive treys and after a triple by Blanchard the Tars would have a 54-52 lead with four minutes to go. Tampa would tie it on a Lebron hoop before Wolf would give the Tars a two point lead. A Lebruno triple would make it 57-56 Tampa late. Brock Blanchard would hit a pair of free throws to give RC a 58-57 lead with 57 seconds to go. Calloway would give the Spartans the lead back with a floater. The Tars would go to last year's conference player of the year Wolf and a layup would give the Tars a 1 point lead with 17 seconds left. A Calloway turnover and a free throw by Wolf would seal it for the Tars. Rollins remains atop the Sunshine State conference. Florida Southern is at Lynn on Saturday night. The Tars will be back in action Wednesday as they travel to the "Shark Tank" to battle Nova Southeastern. Tip time set for 730 PM.