BOCA RATON, Fla. (November 22, 2025) - Men's basketball saw their game go down to the last second for the third time in four games to start the year following Saturday's 94-92 defeat at the hands of the Lynn Fighting Knights in the SSC opener. With the loss, Rollins now stands at 2-2 (0-1 SSC) while Lynn improves to 2-1 (1-0 SSC).
Jah Nze was hot coming out of the gate, scoring 14 points before the first media timeout. His barrage included three made threes, a layup, and three free throws, helping the Tars to a 17-15 lead at the first break.
Coming out of the break, Lynn caught fire and soon held a 26-18 advantage. A pair of layups from
Jackson Gaffney and
Omar Figueroa chopped the lead down to four around the halfway point of the first half. However, the Knights kept firing away, and at one point, held a 16-point lead at 50-34 with 4:51 to go. The Tars showed great resilience though, and ended the half on a 15-3 run to make it a 53-49 game at the break.
Michael Kalina had a tip in at the buzzer to give Rollins some momentum heading into halftime.
The Tars shot 53% from the floor, 58% from three with seven makes, and 77% from the free throw line in the first half. The only problem was Lynn was 52% from the floor, and hit eleven threes at a 61% clip to hold the lead.
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Marshall Klug jumper cut the lead to two to open the second half, but Lynn rode the hot hand of Max Polk to extend their lead all the way up to 17 at 73-56. Again, the Tars showed grit and started chipping away. Gaffney scored five points on back-to-back possessions, followed by three free throws from Nze. Kalina then forced a steal and finished with a layup, followed by a stop on defense and a transition three from Gaffney to make it 73-69 with 10 minutes to go.
The pace slowed down, but Rollins eventually came all the way back when Nze connected on his fifth three of the game to tie it at 76 with seven minutes to go. The next four minutes were all Tars as they ripped off a 14-0 run that featured a dunk and layup from Gaffney and eight points from Nze.
Lynn snapped the streak with a layup from John Roland, and continued to whittle away, turning Rollins misses into makes on their end. With 34 seconds to play, Figueroa nailed a three to make the score 92-85, seemingly putting the Tars on top.
That's when disaster struck, however. Lynn used eleven seconds on the clock to convert a layup and call timeout with 23 ticks left. On the ensuing Rollins possession, Nze missed the front end of a one-and-one with Lynn rebounding the ball. They drew a fall and hit both free throws, making it 92-89. This time, Rollins called timeout, but on the inbounds play, Nze was called for a double dribble as he tried to split a trap.
The Knights used eight seconds on the ensuing possession to earn a layup, but Rollins still held a 92-91 lead with four seconds left. Coming out of a timeout, Gaffney inbounded the ball, launching it from the baseline to beyond halfcourt, where it was intercepted by Matthew Puodziukaitis. He found Polk, who drove and dished to Antoine Jacks in the corner. He pump faked, sending two Rollins defenders flying past, and calmly swished a three-pointer at the horn to give Lynn a 94-92 win.
Nze led all scorers with 29 points, while also adding four rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Gaffney set a new career-high with 19 points, while Figueroa added 13. Polk led the Knights with 22 points including six made threes.
In four games this year, Rollins has lost on a three to Fort Valley State with less than two seconds to play, defeated Union on a tip-in at the buzzer, and now lost to Lynn on a buzzer-beating three.
Next up for the Tars is a home game against Puerto Rico Bayamon on Monday, November 24. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm, following the girl's game beforehand.
