FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (March 8, 2009) – The
Tars put together a second half comeback to force overtime, but a
final shot fell short at the buzzer as second seed Rollins was
defeated by top seed Florida Southern 77-76 in the thrilling
championship game of the BlueCross BlueShield of Florida Sunshine
State Conference Tournament.
Senior Zach
Pancratz hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation to
knot the score a 66 and cap off a wild Tars comeback. FSC got three
looks at the basket in the waning moments, but the Tars defense
held strong to force overtime.
In the extra period, Pancratz again hit a triple to pull the
Tars to within one with 52 ticks on the clock. The Tars got a stop
on defense, but couldn't get an open look on the final possession
as a Pancratz fall away jumper was off the mark at the buzzer.
Rollins drops to 20-10 on the season and will await their
postseason fate when selections to the NCAA South Region Tournament
are announced later Sunday. Florida Southern (26-6) earns the SSC's
automatic bid and will likely head into the tournament as the top
seed.
Senior Kevin
Hogan netted 20 points, behind a 9-of-11 performance from the
stripe, to lead the Rollins offense. Nick
Wolf and Matt
Robertson each tallied 13 points with Pancratz chipping in 11
points, dishing out a team-high seven assists and gathering nine
rebounds.
Hogan and Wolf were named to the SSC All-Tournament team.
Tournament Most Outstanding player Rob Eldridge netted 21 points
and handed out six assists to lead Florida Southern. Terry Jenkins
added 16 points with Rion Rayfield chipping in 14 and John Thompson
10.
Rollins out-shot the Mocs 52 percent (27-52) to 44 percent
(29-66) with the Tars also nabbing a 33-31 edge on the boards. Both
teams live and die by the 3-point line as the Tars went 9-of-22 (41
percent) from long range with the Mocs hitting for 30 percent
(10-of-33).
The Tars ran out to an 11-6 lead over the first five minutes
before the Mocs rolled off a 7-0 run to take a 13-11 advantage at
the 12:35 mark of the first half. A Rayfield triple later in the
period gave Southern a 19-16 lead before a Hogan 3-pointer and back
to back layups by Pancratz and Robertson put the Tars on top by
four.
Rollins found themselves down five in the final seconds of the
opening period, but Eldridge was fouled on a controversial call at
the buzzer and sank all three free throws to make the score 34-26
at the half.
The Mocs came out of the break on fire and rolled to a 49-35
lead after the first five minutes. After a timeout, Hogan connected
from long range as the Tars began to cut into the FSC advantage,
eventually tying the score at 61 with 4:29 to play.
Eldridge hit a jumper with 90 seconds in regulation to put the
Mocs on top and was followed by the Pancratz triple from the tip of
the key that tied the score and forced overtime.
FSC was up by as much as six in the extra period, but the duo of
Pancratz and Robertson hit from long range to pull Rollins within
one on the final possession. The Mocs defense held in the final
play as the Pancratz try at the buzzer went begging.
The title is the Mocs 19th in school history while the Tars fall
to 2-6 all-time in Sunshine State Conference Tournament title
games.
