WINTER PARK, Fla. (January 25, 2025) - Men's basketball was clicking on all fronts Saturday, leading to a 90-80 win over visiting Barry. The Tars now stand at 12-8, 5-6 SSC while the Bucs drop to 8-11, 4-7 SSC.
Points were flowing early as
Matus Malovec and
Beau Frericks each knocked down their first two field goal attempts to put the Tars up 12-10. Rollins stayed hot from beyond the arc as
Sergey Grishaev and
Michael Kalina each added a triple to their ledger, which was needed dearly as Barry's Michael Bradley connected on three straight threes of his own.
A second Frericks triple followed by a thunderous two-hand dunk from
Emilis Butkus put the momentum on the Tars' side as they grabbed a 23-19 lead with under ten to go in the first half.
Rollins was playing with a limited roster in this one, and needed Kalina and
Michael Niemann to step up. Both guards answered the call in the first half, specifically Niemann who knocked down a pair of threes and another jumper for eight points. With under four minutes to go in the first, the red-hot Tars received to more deep conversions from Frericks and Butkus, putting them up 46-30. However, Barry hung in there, scoring the final seven points of the half to head into the break down 46-37.
The Tars, who entered the game as the top three-point shooting team in the SSC, connected on 10-17 attempts (59%) from distance in the first half.
Barry carried their momentum into the second period, scoring on their first five possessions to pull within 48-47. Following a timeout, the tars got back on track when Butkus, Malovec, and Frericks scored on three consecutive possessions.
Ian Hart then added five points off the bench, followed by a third three from Niemann to put Rollins up 64-58.
The Bucs kept fighting, and eventually tied the game at 68 around the ten-minute mark. However, they never captured all of the momentum, and failed to take a lead in the second half. Rollins did just enough to stay head, and were helped by a five point Malovec run with under nine to go. A nearly three-minute run of zero points for either side followed before Butkus finished a tough lay in traffic to make the score 75-68 at six minutes left.
The final minutes of the game saw Butkus convert multiple tough baskets in the paint, as well as a ton of made free throws from Frericks and Grishaev. The Buccaneers could not put a run together, and eventually fell 90-80 to the Tars.
Frericks was the leading scorer for Rollins with 22 points. Butkus added 20 of his own to fo with five boards and five assists. Grishaev added 13 points, eight rebounds, and a team-high six assists. Niemann led the bench scorers with eleven points, while Kalina posted a clean five points, five rebounds, and five assists. As a team, Rollins shot 30-57 (53%), 13-26 (50%) from three, and 17-21 (81%) from the line.
Next up for Rollins is a road game at Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday, February 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 pm.
