Rollins out of NCAA tournament

Rollins may have taken down St. Leo in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, but the Lions had their revenge in the NCAA Division II tournament.

Kyle McClanahan’s 21 points weren’t enough to keep pace with St. Leo, which won 59-53 in a defensively-dominated game first-round game March 16 that only saw two Tars in double digit scoring.

After leading early, the Tars fell behind big in the first half of the game, trailing by eight points at the half. Both teams had big trouble at the basket, with the Lions shooting 30.4 percent in the first half. The Tars were relative sharpshooters by comparison, knocking down 37.5 percent of their shots in the first period.

Though scores were few and far between heading into the second half, the Lions gradually pulled the scoring gap as wide as 12 points before the Tars started reeling them in. In the final two minutes of the game the Tars went on a ferocious scoring run, shrinking the gap from 11-points wide down to four points in just 13 seconds. With just more than a minute left to play, they were two shots away from a tie or a win.

In the next 67 seconds the Tars would miss six of their final eight shots as foul shots by the Lions spread the scoring gap back out again for good.

The upset loss was the second time this season the Tars fell to the Lions. The loss knocked the Tars out of the tournament.