MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (January 4, 2020) – Rollins led by eight with 1:05 left, but a missed free throw started a wild finish that saw Barry end the game on a 9-0 run and hand the Tars an agonizing 69-68 loss.
Over the final 65 seconds of the game, the Tars turned it over four times in the back court and had a last second, potential game winner roll off the rim at the buzzer.
The loss is a second-straight by one point for Rollins and drops its record to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in Sunshine State Conference play. Barry moves to the top of the league standings at 5-1, 11-2 overall.
Jakobi Bonner led the way for the Tars with 16 points. Connor Mckim and Hutton Yenor both scored 14 points while Trevor Recio grabbed 12 rebounds.
Jake Kakar netted 20 to lead Barry with Tylan Birts adding 18 points and seven rebounds. Johannes Dolven scored 11 to go along with seven boards.
Barry built a 20-12 lead over the first eight minutes, but Rollins defense put the clamps on and slowed down the Bucs high-powered offense. The Tars cut the deficit to 27-24 with five minutes left in the first before a 7-0 Buc run got the spread right back to nine.
A Mckim layup and Kyle Marion three-pointer got the Tars offense back on track as they pulled to within 36-34 at intermission.
Bonner tied it up on the first possession of the second and sparked what would be a very close second half. After Barry again built an eight point lead with 11:45 left, a three-pointer from Mckim and two triples from Yenor gave Rollins a 53-52 lead with 8:18 left.
The Tars held on to the advantage and went up 68-60 after Mckim's third three-pointer and a Bonne free throw with 1:28 on the clock.
Rollins got a stop on the defensive end, but Bonner missed the front end of a one-and-one. Barry split free throws on its possession and set up its full-court press, which proved to give the Tars fits.
The Bucs converted a Rollins turnover into another free throw to cut the Tars lead to 68-62 with 52 seconds left. Barry again came up with a steal in the back court and drew a Rollins foul and free throws made it a 68-64 game. Rollins couldn't get out of a trap after the inbound and, after a third-straight steal, Kakar drilled a three-pointer off the steal to cut the lead to just 68-67 with 26 seconds on the clock.
Rollins then called timeout to regroup. Coming out of the break, the Tars again handed it right back to Barry but this time forced a missed shot. Rollins couldn't secure the rebound and Kakar's putback with 26 seconds left put the Bucs on top 69-68
Mckim raced down the court and his potential game winner and put back were both too strong as Rollins suffered a tough road loss.
Rollins will look to bounce back on Wednesday, January 8 hosting 14th-ranked Florida Southern at Warden Arena. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. Fans can follow the action live on the Tars Sports Network at RollinsSports.com and locally on 91.5 FM WPRK.
