Tars Trip Up Tritons.

Somewhere Phil Jackson is grinning from "ear to ear". The ageless debate will go on forever but Wednesday night would have made Jackson proud. The Rollins College Tars had a 3 point lead and the Eckerd Tritons had plenty of capable three point shooters on the court. So as soon as Chris Gray crossed the timeline Ian Scott fouled the Eckerd guard before he could get a shot up. Gray made both free throws. Nick Wolf then hit Brock Blanchard with a baseball pass and Blanchard was fouled. Brock nailed the free throw and missed the second intentionally, the Tritons would have a desperation heave that was off the mark as time expired.

It was a nip and tuck affair all night long at the McCarthur Center. Myk Brown led Rollins with 26 points including 8-8 from the charity stripe. Nick Wolf would net 12 points, and Ian Scott had 8 off the bench. The Tars would improve to 15-3 overall and 7-1 in the Sunshine State Conference with Wednesday's victory.

The Tritons would only have one player in double figures. John Harper scored 15 points. Harper was 6 of 17 from the floor and only 3 of 13 from three point land. Zaron Cann and Lewis Lampley each posted 7 points for the Tritons. With the loss Eckerd dropped to 10-7 overall and 4-4 in the SSC. The Tritons are in a three way tie for fourth place in the conference with Lynn and Nova Southeastern.

The two teams would go back and forth in the early going. The Tritons would hold a 9-8 lead as defense dominated the first 10 minutes of the game. The Tars would then go on a 9-0 run to take a 17-9 lead just a 1:31 seconds later. Eckerd would fight back and regain the lead 21-20 right before halftime. The Tars would go on a 9-1 run to close out the half and lead 29-22 at the break.

The Tars would extend the lead to ten early in the second half but once again the Tritons would battle back. Eckerd would cut the Tars lead to one on two separate occasions but the Tars would not give up the lead and would hang on for the 59-57 win. The Tars shot 43% (16 of 37) in the game. Rollins was a season low 25% (3 of 12) from three point land. The Tritons shot 38% (20 of 52) and dominated the glass out rebounding the Tars 38-27. The win was the Tars first at the McCarthur Center in nearly 4 years. February 4,2006 was the last time the Tars left Eckerd with a W. The Tars will be back in action Saturday when they complete the season series with the Fighting Knights of Lynn. The Tars defeated Lynn to open the conference slate 61-50 on December 5th. Tip time is slated for 4 PM at Warden Arena.