MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (January 3, 2026) - Men's basketball captured a nice SSC road win on Saturday defeating Barry 79-69. With the win, Rollins moves to 9-5, 3-3 SSC on the year while the Bucs fall to 6-7, 1-4 SSC.
The Tars' first hurdle was making it safely to South Florida. About halfway into their four-hour bus ride, a flat tire had the Tars stranded on I-95, leading to a 5:45 pm tip for the originally scheduled 4pm game.
Once inside the Health & Sports Center,
Jah Nze scored the first bucket of the game for Rollins, setting the tone for the evening. Barry maintained a small lead, but the Tars were able to stay close with points in the paint and free throws. In fact, they didn't hit a three-pointer until Nze splashed one at the 9:19 mark in the first.
It took nearly the whole first half, but a
Ricky Ghedini triple with just over two minutes to go tied the game, followed by two free throws from
Omar Figueroa that gave Rollins their first lead. Nze and
Ryan Renfro added layups before the horn to make it 34-28 at the half.
Rollins knocked down 11-14 free throws in the first half, helping offset their 10-25 (40%) field goal percentage.
The second half saw Nze score the first eight points for the Tars off a layup, three, and a three-point play. Rollins pushed their lead to double digits, 46-35, by the first media timeout.
Things got interesting after that timeout as the Rollins offense stalled, allowing the Bucs to come back and tie the game at 48 with twelve minutes to play. When
Mayson Quartlebaum finished a three-point play with just under ten minutes to go, it snapped a more than six-minute stretch without a field goal for the Tars.
Thankfully, Quartlebaum's spark off the bench ignited the offense as the Tars ripped off eleven straight points to give themselves a nice cushion. Barry pulled within six a couple of times late, but the Tar defense forced a multitude of turnovers while knocking down free throws on the other end to hang on for the 79-69 win.
Nze led all scorers with a season-high 31 points on 10-15 shooting and 8-11 free throws.
Omar Figueroa added 17, and
Jackson Gaffney chipped in ten. Deon Perry had 29 to lead the Buccaneers. Rollins forced Barry to turn the ball over 23 times in the game.
Next up for Rollins is another SSC road game. The Tars will head to St. Petersburg on Wednesday, January 7 for a date with the Eckerd Tritons. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
