Tars Magical Run Comes To A Close Against Valdosta State.

The Rollins College Tars magical season came to a halt Tuesday in Russelville, Arkansas with a 71-58 loss to the upstart Valdosta State Blazers. With the win Valdosta advanced to the elite 8 in Springfield, Mass. next Wednesday. The Blazers improved to 28-4 on the year and advanced to the elite 8 for the first time in school history. Valdosta goes into the elite 8 as one of the hottest teams in the country after defeating the host and top seed Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech and Rollins in the span of 72 hours. The Tars fell to 27--6. The 27 wins tied the most ever in Rollins hoops history. It was only the second time in school history that the Tars reached the round of 16.

The game followed a similar pattern of the past five games to start. The Tars battled uphill the entire night. The Blazers would jump out to a 13-5 lead early after making six of their first seven shots on the evening. The Tars would get within 4 on two separate occasions but a 17-7 run by Valdosta would give the Blazers a 39-25 lead late in the first half. The Tars would close the half on a 6-0 run and it would be 39-31 Blazers after Senior Brock Blanchard banked home a three right before the intermission. Both teams shot the ball exceptionally well in the first half. The Blazers were 15 of 29 (51.7%) in the first half while the Tars were 13 of 25 (52%) in the opening stanza. Nikola Baran hit a pair of treys and tournament most outstanding player Nick Wolf scored 5 points including a free throw that gave the Tars a 47-46 lead. The Tars would then go ice cold from the field and would miss their next 18 shots. It would not be until 58 seconds remaining that the Tars would find the bottom of the basket. VSU made 12 free throws over the final two minutes to ice the game after a three by Kevin Harris. Marquise Robinson and Charles Belton led a 11-0 spurt that gave the Blazers a 57-47 lead. The Blazers had three players tally double figures on the evening. Marvin Dibble who came into the game averaging 8 points a game led the way with 18. Kevin Harris netted 12 off the bench while Marquis Robinson scored 11 off the Blazer bench.

The Tars were led by a pair of players in double numbers. Nick Wolf had yet another double-double scoring 16 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Myk Brown added 14 for RC. The Tars shot 36% in the game including a frigid 26% in the second half. It was still a fantastic season for the Tars. Along with a trip to the regional final the Tars also won a share of the Sunshine State Conference title with Florida Southern and won the SSC tournament title. The Tars will lose some key components on this team. Three Seniors careers came to an end. Greg Sweeney, Ryan Ferranti and Brock Blanchard. "It was quite a ride". 2009-10 will go down as one of the best ever in Rollins hoops history!!