Rollins Looks To Protect Home Court Versus Eckerd

 The Rollins College Tars (15-10 8-8 SSC) return home to battle the Eckerd College Tritons (11-14 6-11 SSC) tomorrow (2/19) night at Warden Arena inside the Alfond Sports Center. You can catch all the action on 91.5 FM WPRK Winter Park and on SunshineStateConference.TV with Robert Segal and Jim "Shooter" Ferro on the call. Tip time is scheduled for 7:30 PM. 

 Rollins is coming off a 94-84 loss to Lynn on Saturday. Beau Frericks, John Latimer, and Emillis Butkus each scored 18 for the Tars, as Frericks grabbed 10 rebounds as well. Sergey Grishaev (11) and Matus Malovec (10) also tallied double figures as the Tars lost for the second time this season to the Fighting Knights. Rollins shot 50 percent from the field, 23.8 percent (5-21) from the 3-point line, and 86.7 percent (13-15) from the free throw line in the loss. Rollins remains sixth in the SSC scoring 83.5 points per game as well as fifth on defense in the conference giving up 79.3 points per contest. The Tars are still second in field goal percentage in the league (48.8 percent) and shoot 37.5 percent from 3-point land which leads the SSC. They shoot 76.2 percent from the free throw line which is second in the SSC. On the glass the Tars are seventh with a 1.6 (36.9-35.3) rebound advantage. Rollins is ninth in turnover margin (-1.48) and fourth in assist to turnover ratio (1.44.) They dish out 17.04 assists per game which is fifth  in the SSC as well. They also make 8.7 triples per game which is fourth in league play. The Tars 3-point defense continues to improve as they are now holding the opposition to 34.1 percent shooting from distance which is sixth in the SSC. They block 3.24 shots per game which is also sixth in the conference and steal the ball 6.32 times per game which is ninth in the conference. Butkus is tied for sixth in the league scoring 18.3 points per game while Frericks is getting 16.8 points per night which is ninth in the SSC. Grishaev (15.7 points per game) and Latimer (14.8 points per contest) also average double figures. Grishaev is tied for 10th in the conference and leads the team pulling down seven rebounds per game. Butkus (52.7 percent which is seventh in SSC play) and Frericks (51.1 percent) which is ninth in the SSC in field goal percentage while Frericks in now third in the conference shooting 42.7 percent from the 3-point line. Frericks (86.5 percent which is third in the SSC) and Latimer (86.2 percent which is fifth in the league) are top five in the conference in free throw percentage. Frericks leads the team and is eighth in the SSC dishing out 3.9 asssits per game while Grishaev blocks 1.5 shots per game which is fifth in the league. Latimer leads the team in steals (1.6 per night) while Frericks is fifth in minutes played in the SSC (33.1 per game.) In the first meeting with Eckerd roughly a month ago (Rollins won 78-67) Butkus poured in 27 points, Frericks notched 16, and Grishaev added 14. Rollins shot 58.5 percent from the field, 35.3 percent (6-17) from the 3-point line, and 52.6 percent (10-19) from the free throw line. 

 The Tritons are coming off a 94-80 win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday. Wyatt Triestman paced Eckerd with 22 points, Kent Garard added 19, Isaiah Placide notched 18, and Miguel Llompart contributed 14. Timothy Thompson led the team on the glass pulling down 15 rebounds. Eckerd shot 50 percent from the field, 40.7 percent (11-27) from the 3-point line, and 76 percent (19-25) from the free throw line. Eckerd scores 74.3 points per game which is 10th in the SSC while they give up 77.4 per night which is third in the conference. The Tritons shoot an SSC eighth best 43.7 percent from the field and an SSC third best 36.4 percent from the 3-point line. They make 7.8 triples per contest which is seventh in the SSC. They also shoot free throws at an SSC fourth best 74 percent. Eckerd is the third best rebounding team in the conference as they are +6.5 (38.6-32.1)  rebounds per night. Eckerd is last in the SSC in turnover margin (-5.8) as well as last in assist to turnover ratio (0.73.) They dish out 11.04 assists per game which is 10th in the conference as well. They are 10th at guarding the 3-point line (34.9 percent) and ninth in blocked shots (2.60 per game.) They are also last in the league in steals (4.88 per contest.) Placide leads the team and is fourth in the conference getting 19.5 points per game, He is joined in double figures by Koa Baker (10.5 points per night) and Garard (10.2 per game.) Thompson leads the team and is eighth in the conference pulling down 7.2 rebounds per game while Baker is second best in the SSC shooting free throws at a 86.8 percent clip. Dante Bouchard leads the team in assists at 2.9 per game while Thompson leads the team swatting 1.1 shots per night. In the first meeting with Rollins Placide scored 28 and Baker netted 18, Eckerd shot 39.2 percent from the field, 33.3 percent (10-30) from the 3-point line, and 77.3 percent (17-22) from the free throw line in that one. 

The line presented by JuanBernalSportsBooks.com: Rollins by 7.5 

Other SSC Lines Wednesday: 

Tampa -6 @ Florida Tech 

Palm Beach Atlantic -3 @ Embry-Riddle 

Nova Southeastern -4.5 @ Florida Southern 

Lynn -2.5 @ Barry 

SSC Standings: 

Nova Southeastern 15-1 (23-1) 

Florida Southern 11-5 (20-6) 

Lynn 11-6 (16-7) 

Palm Beach Atlantic 9-7 (16-8) 

Embry-Riddle 9-7 (15-9) 

Rollins 8-8 (15-10) 

Tampa 8-9 (16-9) 

Barry 6-10 (10-14) 

Eckerd 6-11 (11-14) 

Saint Leo 5-12 (10-15) 

Florida Tech 2-14 (5-19)