WINTER PARK, Fla. (November 16, 2025) - About 27 hours after losing their season opener on a buzzer-beating three, men's basketball dealt the same fate to the Union Bulldogs, using a tip-in from
Matus Malovec to win their home opener 84-82. Both the Tars and Bulldogs now stand at 1-1 on the year.
Omar Figueroa got the offense going with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. After Union tied the game at six,
Marshall Klug knocked down three free throws and
Jah Nze added a triple to take a 12-9 lead.
More than three minutes passed before the Tars scored again, this time on a Malovec three.
Mayson Quartlebaum scored on a tough drive on the next possession, and then Malovec connected from distance again to give the Tars the lead once more.
The Bulldogs used tough defense to force a couple Tar turnovers, and retook the lead. With under seven minutes to play,
Ricky Ghedini splashed from deep, Klug added a nice fallaway jumper, and
William Jobe had a field goal in the post to put Rollins up 29-24.
The two teams exchanged baskets in the final four minutes, with Union holding a 39-37 edge at halftime.
Rollins was 8-15 (53%) from three in the first half, but only 4-13 (31%) from two.
Both offenses picked up the pace early in the second half, with the game tying at 39, 41, and 43. However, one possession in particular changed the tempo of the game. The Tars were whistled for three fouls in a twenty-second span, causing head coach
Kevin Hogan to get heated and the crowd fired up.
After Union eventually knocked down a three, Nze finished a tough a layup and followed that with a three to put the Tars back on top.
For the remainder of the game, neither team held a lead of more than six points. With Union up 64-58 at the 9:08 mark, Nze finished a tough and-one, followed by a Klug jumper and a Figueroa three to knot the game up at 66. Another Nze layup and free throw then had the Tars back on top.
With under a minute to play, Will Lovings-Watts nailed a huge three to tie the game at 82. In response, Rollins held the ball for the last 46 seconds of the game. A layup from Nze was blocked out of bounces. Next, Figueroa fired a three, but the rebound bounced off a Bulldog and went out of bounds, resetting the shot clock. With three seconds left, Nze fired another three that was no good, but Malovec collected the rebound and tipped it softly off the backboard with 0.2 seconds remaining for the buzzer-beating win.
Nze led the Tars with 21 points, adding three rebounds and four assists as well. Figueroa scored 16, and Kluh had 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Lovings-Watts had 31 points in the loss for the Bulldogs.
Next up for Rollins is a home game against Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, November 19. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
