MELBOURNE, Fla. (November 28, 2023) - Men's basketball suffered a loss in their first Sunshine State Conference of the season, falling 96-73 to the Florida Tech Panthers on Tuesday evening. The Tars now stand at 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the SSC, while the Panthers remain undefeated at 6-0, 1-0 SSC.
Braxton Barnhizer gave Rollins an early lead, knocking down a trio of triples in the first four minutes to make it 9-7. Chase Thompson scored five quick ones for Tech, making the score 12-9, giving the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
The Tars would pull within two on multiple occasions, but could not get over the hump. Meanwhile, Florida Tech was lights out from distance, knocking down 9-17 in the first half. After a
Sergey Grishaev layup made it 26-24, the Panthers went on a 9-0 run to keep the game out of reach. They would head into the half leading 52-36.
Rollins shot a respectable 50 FG%, 44% 3PM, and 80% FT in the first period, but could not seem to get a defensive stop as the Panthers scored on 20-30 shot attempts.
The second half was simply Tech controlling the tempo and maintaining the lead as Rollins could not get any closer than 17 points in the second half. The game would end with a final of 96-73.
Kyle Marion submitted a solid all-around game with 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Matheus Silveira chipped in 19, and Barnhizer was good for 11. Rahsaan Edwards chucked up 17 three point attempts en route to a game high 22 points for Tech.
Next up for Rollins is another SSC road game. They will travel to West Palm Beach on Saturday to take on the Sailfish of PBA at 4 PM on December 2.
