LAS VEGAS, Nev. (December 21, 2025) – Men's basketball wrapped up their annual trip to the Pacific time zone with a 72-70 loss against Colorado School of Mines on Sunday. With the loss the Tars move to 7-5 on the year while the Orediggers sit at 5-9 overall.
It was a lazy start for the Tars as they missed their first four shots and added two turnovers, falling behind 8-0 early. However, they showed their grit by sticking with tough defense and scoring the next six points in a row, helped by offensive rebounding and points in the paint.
After Mines extended their lead back out to six on a three-pointer, the Tars made another effective run with reserves
Michael Kalina and
Mayson Quartlebaum accounting for six of the next nine points to give Rollins their first lead at 19-18.
The next four minutes saw a cold streak from the Tars, but the Orediggers weren't much better on the offensive side.
Jackson Gaffney was able to draw a number of fouls on aggressive dribble-drives, leading to free throws to keep the Tars close.
The final quarter of the first half saw an abundance of whistles on both sides as the flow of play hit a wall. The result was an advantage in free throws for Mines, as well as a number of missed open looks for Rollins, leading to a halftime lead of 36-29 in favor of the Orediggers.
Rollins was only 11-34 (32.4%) in the first half, and 4-17 (23.5%) from three.
The team's shooting improved in the second half as they scratched and fought to get back in the game. A steal from
Matus Malovec led to a transition three from
Omar Figueroa that cut the leaf to four at the 15 minute mark.
After the Orediggers made a small run, the Tars received a huge boost when
Jah Nze finished a tough drive in the paint with a layup, followed by a
Marshall Klug contested triple, and two free throws from Nze, giving Rollins a 60-59 lead.
Despite solid defense from the Tars, their offense went cold with a more than four-minute stretch without making a field goal. During that time, the Orediggers were able to reclaim the lead. With under three minutes to play,
Ryan Renfro grabbed an offensive board and kicked it out to Nze, who calmly stroked a three to pull the Tars within one. One possession later, a steal led to an Nze layup that tied the game at 68. He then hit two free throws with under a minute to tie the game again at 70.
Mines got an offensive rebound and putback to take a two-point lead. On the Tars' last possession, they missed a three, but the rebound went off an Oredigger. With three seconds left, a play was drawn up for Gaffney, but his contested attempt at the rim was just short as Rollins fell 72-70.
Nze led the team with 22 points while adding four assists. Figueroa was good for 13, and Quartlebaum added nine points and six boards off the bench.
Next up for the Tars is a Sunshine State Conference home game against Saint Leo on Wednesday, December 31. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:00 pm following the women's game.
