WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (February 1, 2025) - Men's basketball collected their fifth win in seven games on Saturday, taking down the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfih by a score of 73-69. The Tars improve to 13-8, 6-6 SSC while the Sailfish drop to 15-6, 8-5 SSC.
Matus Malovec got the party started for Rollins with the first five points of the game.
Beau Frericks would add a three-pointer, but the Sailfish were able to crawl bac into it and tie the game before the first media timeout.
The second segment of play saw Frericks, Malovec, and
Sergey Grishaev add made shots to the Rollins ledger, but again the Sailfish had the answer with makes of their own to keep the game tight at 15 all.
John Latimer III was the next Rollins player to stand out, scoring on the next two possessions for Rollins to keep them within a possession of the home team. With just over five minutes to play, Frericks converted a three-point play to knot the game at 24 a piece.
Latimer would score three more times before the half ended, including a tough finish at the rim with a foul, putting Rollins ahead by three with under a minute to go. Palm Beach Atlantic was able to score a buzzer beating layup courtesy of Josh Ward, tying the game at the halftime horn.
Emilis Butkus sparked the offense in the second half, scoring four quick ones. The two teams remained close, exchanging the lead three times and tying the game twice in the the first four minutes of play. With the Sailfish clinging on to a two-point lead,
Ian Hart came off the bench and connected on a big three to give Rollins the lead at 48-46 while snapping a three-minute scoreless streak.
Moments later, with the Sailfish struggling to make moves on offense, Butkus was able to rattle off five points in 37 seconds to put the Tars ahead by six. For the next few minutes, every time PBA scored, Rollins seemed to have an answer as they maintained a three-possession lead.
With under three minutes to go, the Sailfish went on an 8-0 run and took a two point lead on a Ward layup. Undaunted, Butkus had the answer with a clutch three to put the Tars up one. After a defensive stand, Grishaev then finished a tough lay at the rim with a foul to make the score 67-63 with just over a minute to go.
Though Palm Beach Atlantic was able to knock down a pair of threes in the final minute to keep it close, Rollins was perfect from the line in a clutch situation, with Butkus and Frericks knocking down the freebies to hang on for a 73-69 win.
Frericks led the team with 18 points on 6-7 shooting, adding three steals on defense. Butkus was good for 17 points, and Grishaev added 13 rebounds. The Rollins defense was strong in this one, limiting the Sailfish to 39% shooting overall, and just 5-23 (22%) from three.
Next up for Rollins is a home game against Florida Tech on Wednesday, February 5. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30, following the women's game.
