Tars erase seven-point deficit en route to 77-54 win to reach South Region final.
By GREG McILVAIN
Published March 15, 2004
VALDOSTA - Down seven, 17-plus minutes to go for a chance at making the NCAA South Region final.
What to do, Rollins?
"If we were going to lose, we were going out together," senior forward Lex Brown said. "We weren't fighting in the first half.
"I told them we'd done enough strategizing. We just had to have fun and play our hearts out. All the strategizing was out the door."
Second-seeded Rollins outscored sixth-seeded Eckerd 46-16 in those final minutes, using three runs to do the damage, and came away with a 77-54 victory Sunday night at the Complex. The Tars advanced to Tuesday's 7 p.m. region title game.
Rollins (26-5) beat Eckerd (21-11) twice in the regular season, 68-65 in overtime and 72-63. Eckerd won the Sunshine State tournament semifinal matchup 75-73 on March 6.
"They're a very good team. They're hard to play offensively," Eckerd coach Tom Ryan said. "They all know where they are going, and where each other is going. They work very hard as a team.
"We had some close games with them. We were able to slow down their big guns, and the other people didn't get hot. Tonight, everybody was making shots."
Marcus Bryant led Eckerd with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Fellow seniors Sharrod McCree added 12 points and Anthony Washington 11.
"My seniors picked us up at the end of the season and carried us this far," Ryan said. "Our defense was pretty good the last six games, and it was in the first half. In the second half they got some back cuts and some offensive rebounds, and that opened things up."
Chad Dircks had 10 points and four rebounds for Rollins. Brown and Placide Muhizi added nine points and Deon Troupe eight off the bench. Isaac Codrey scored seven.
Rollins used a 16-3 run to turn the game around, going from the seven-point deficit to a 47-41 lead with 11:48 left.
A 9-1 run made it 58-45 with 5:16 left, and a 14-0 stretch made it 70-49 with 1:07 left.
Six Tars scored in the first run. Four of those had baskets in the second, and three new players added to the third.
"We got a great performance by every kid who stepped out on the floor," Rollins coach Tom Klusman said. "That's how it has been all year for us."
"Our bench made us go tonight," said Rollins guard Eric Faber, who became the school's all-time assist leader Saturday. He finished Sunday with a team-high 15 points and six assists. "All the guys came in and played awesome ... they won the game for us. They gave us the confidence we needed."
For the half, Eckerd made 16 of 24 shots, including 7 of 9 3-pointers.
