Tars Dispose of Tampa, Eckerd Next.

The Rollins College Tars rode a solid second half especially on the defensive end to a a 73-54 win over Tampa in the first round of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Sunshine State Conference First round at Warden Arena on Wednesday night. All eight Tars who played scored on Wednesday with 3 scoring in double figures. Myk Brown led the way with 18 points, Nick Wolf added 15 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists for Rollins. Nikola Baran was a perfect 4 of 4 from long distance for his 12 points. The Tars shot 27-47 (57%) in the game including 14 of 22 (64%) in the second half. Rollins was 6 of 10 from three point range and 13 of 19 (68%) at the charity stripe. The Tars hammered the Spartans on the boards 36-21.

Tampa had a pair of players tally in double numbers on Wednesday. Rashaad Callway had 13 points on just 6 of 20 shooting. Anthony Lebruno added 11 on 4 of 8 from the floor. Callum Townsend chipped in 9 for Tampa. The Spartans shot 22-56 (39%) on the evening. UT was a frigid 9 of 34 (27%) from beyond the arc. Tampa only attempted 4 free throws on the night, only making one of them.

The two teams traded three pointers and it looked as thought it was going to be a shootout in the early going. Wolf and Nikola Baran hit the triples for the Tars while Lebruno added a pair of treys for the Spartans. Julian Wilkison would make a layup to ingnite a 16-3 run that would make it 22-9 Tars with 12:37 in the first stanza. The Tars would stretch that lead out to 15 but UT would finnish the half strong. After a 18-6 UT run to close the half it would be 35-31 at the break.

Whatever Tom Klusman, Brad Ash and Zach Pancratz had to say in the locker room worked quite well in the second half. Tampa would get to within 2 with 15:00 to play but that is as close as the game would get. The Tars would play outstanding defense and get several layups on back door cuts to dominate the second half. The Tars would lead by as many as 20 (65-45) and go on to the 73-54 win. Rollins will travel to Nova Southeastern on Saturday to face the Eckerd College Tritons at noon at the Don Taft University Center. The Tritons were 86-62 winners over Nova. Barry and Florida Southern will battle in the other semifinal. You can listen to all the Tars action with Jim "The Shooter" Ferro and Nate Weyant on Saturday afternoon on 91.5 WPRK in Winter Park and worldwide at RollinsSports.TV