FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (March 1, 2025) - Men's basketball put together their best defensive effort of the season against the top scoring team in the country, but came up just short in their upset bid, losing 75-71 to #2 Nova Southeastern. The Tars wrap up the regular season with a 16-13 record, 9-11 in the SSC. The Sharks improve to 27-1, 19-1 SSC.
Coming into the game, the Sharks were averaging 105 points per game. Rollins was ready on the defensive end, disrupting the high-flying Sharks while also using the three-point shot to their advantage. The first three made shots of the game all came from deep for the Tars, including two from
Michael Niemann, who was making his first start of the year.
The middle of the first was a struggle for both sides with a lack of flow on offense. Nova climbed up by five, but triples from
Beau Frericks and
William Jobe had Rollins within one possession. Moments later, it was a nine point lead for the Sharks, but this time
John Latimer III converted a layup off a steal, followed by a three from
Sergey Grishaev to get back within four.
With under two minutes to play, Rollins continued to showcase their deep roster with a three from
Ian Hart and a layup from
Michael Kalina that tied the game. The Tars then took the lead when Latimer splashed a three at the buzzer to make the score 37-36 at the half.
Rollins was 9-16 from three-point range in the first half.
Nova Southeastern reclaimed the lead early in the second half, but
Braxton Barnhizer got in on the shooting for Rollins, knocking down his first three since January 1st at Florida Tech, which put the Tars ahead. The two teams traded leads, but remained just one possession away from each other for the next ten minutes of play.
Dylan Wolle was the next man up with a big three for the Tars that had them ahead 53-49. For the next three minutes, it was a two-possession lead for the Tars as they got ready for a huge upset.
Niemann knocked down another three moments later, tying the game at 64 at the last media timeout. Unfortunately, the Sharks smelled blood in the water, and outscored Rollins 11-7 in the last four minutes to hang on for the win.
Grishaev ended up as the leading scorer for Rollins with 15 points. All eleven players that saw the court scored for the Tars. They knocked down twelve total threes, and shot 47% from the floor in the game.
Rollins is the #7 seed in the upcoming SSC tournament that begins on Tuesday, March 4. They will travel to Lakeland to face the #2 Florida Southern Mocs at 7:00 pm. Southern took both games from Rollins during the regular season.
