Rollins men bounce back, lady Tars keep streak alive

The Tars emerged from Tampa with an 88-69 mood elevator Saturday as they headed toward their final game of the regular season coming up this weekend.

In a game that saw the lead change 15 times before the end of the first half, Sam Philpott came alive with an 18-point performance in just 18 minutes to lead the Tars, who shot 57 percent from the floor. The game became two in one in the second half, as the Tars took a slugfest and turned it into a blowout, never relinquishing the lead again and ripping it open 22 points wide at one point.

For Rollins (17-10, 11-6), the final road game of the regular season gives way to the final home game of the regular season, coming up at 4 p.m. this Saturday against Saint Leo (12-14, 6-10).

Rollins women’s basketball

The lady Tars are on an 11-game tear with yet another skin-of-their-teeth win, this time by a razor-thin 65-63 margin over Tampa on Saturday.

The Tars capitalized on a points-off-turnovers margin of 13-4 and bench point margin of 12-0 in the win, helping the Tars hold onto a lead that was never wider than 4 points in the final 3 minutes of play. Jasmine Stone dropped the final basket to make the Tars’ 11th straight win official.

The Tars (19-6, 13-4) will host Saint Leo (9-15, 4-12) for their final regular season game. That’s at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Sunshine State Conference Tournament starts next Wednesday.

UCF men’s basketball

The Knights bounced back in conference play with a 61-58 nail-biter on Saturday at East Carolina thanks to a second-straight career game by Nick Banyard.

Banyard took the lead for the Knights, throwing down 18 points and grabbing 11 boards in 37 minutes on the floor, with Matt Williams and B.J. Taylor both in double digits scoring.

Though the Knights held the lead for most of the first half of the game, it was far from over, with the lead swapping six times in the second half as the Knights struggled to break away. Their final lead, lasting only a minute and 38 seconds, would only span four points at its broadest. A.J. Davis slammed home a breakaway dunk to take the final lead, and Tacko Fall and Nathan Laing held onto it with well-timed free throws.

In the same game, Williams set an American Athletic Conference record for three-pointers in a season with his 97th. He’s just six shots shy of breaking the UCF record for triples in a season. If he manages to sink those six shots in the Knights’ three remaining games, he’ll also set a UCF record for career three-pointers in the process.

The Knights (17-10, 8-7) were at Temple (14-14, 5-10) Wednesday night at press time. They return to CFE Arena at 3 p.m. Sunday to face Cincinnati (24-3, 13-1) for a rematch after the Knights lost 60-50 on Feb. 8.

UCF women’s basketball

The lady Knights made it four in a row with a 79-51 blasting of East Carolina on Saturday afternoon, following on the heels of a shock win over No. 22 USF on Valentine’s Day.

The blowout win over the Pirates (10-17, 1-13) was already well underway by the end of the first quarter, when the Knights had opened up a 26-15 lead that continued to grow from there.

Aliyah Gregory would lead the team with 27 points and six rebounds, with Tolulope Omokore nearing double-double land with a 13-point, 13-rebound performance.

The Knights (17-9, 7-6) are into the home stretch of regular season play, traveling to New Orleans to face Tulane (16-11, 7-7) at press time Wednesday, returning to host SMU (14-12, 5-8) at 2 p.m. Saturday in CFE Arena.

Edgewater girls’ basketball

The Eagles punched their ticket to Lakeland with a win over Land O’Lakes Sunlake on Feb. 17 by a 66-24 margin. The game turned into a blowout quickly, with the Eagles jumping out to a 53-16 lead before easing off in the second half.

That win sets up a state semifinal matchup against Fort Myers (21-4) at 5 p.m. tonight, Feb. 23. The Green Wave dominated Clearwater in a 68-50 win Feb. 17.