A Season For The Ages!

It had more ups and downs than a ride at Cedar Point. The Rollins Tars jumped out of the gate 5-1 and looked like it was going to be a real good season, then Deion Clark went down with a broken hand. Rollins would drop four in a row, then get another win only to fall to lowly Nova Southeastern. The date was January 11th and the Tars were 8-8 overall and 2-5 in the SSC. Who would have guessed what was to come in this wild season. The Tars would finish the regular season by winning 13 of the last 15 contest's. If you ask a lot of people inside of the program including myself they would say this may be the best coaching job Tom Klusman, Brad Ash and Kyle Frakes had ever done. James Ferrell was the grad assistant this year. If you can not learn from these three guys you are not meant to be a coach.
 Then the magical run began. First a Connor McKim layup in the waning seconds to knock off Lynn in the SSC Quarterfinals. Then Rollins took care of an Eckerd team that had beaten them twice during  the regular season. After top seed Barry was upset by Palm Beach Atlantic in the SSC Semifinals the Tars would play a wild one against the Sailfish. PBA went on a big run and down 10 with less than six minutes to go this season just was not meant to end. Ultimately McKim would hit the game winning 3-pointer that would give the Tars the victory- the conference championship- and- for the first time ever a Rollins team won a conference tournament when they were not the top seed. In this case they were the three seed.
   The conference championship came with a bid to the South Region- the Tars were in the regional for the second year in a row. This time around the Tars made sure it would end better than last year's first round loss to Barry. In the opening round the Tars played another outstanding game against an outstanding opponent and the seven seed would upset second seeded Valdosta State in overtime. Next was a date with Delta State. In most likely the best game the Tars put together all season they drubbed the third seed 88-61. Now the next task would get even tougher. Rollins would take on top seeded and host Alabama-Hunstville on there home floor at Spragins Hall. It was "nip and tuck" all night but the Tars would come out on top 72-68 to win the South Region. Jeff Merton was the MOP of the tournament, while Joey Galvis and Sam Philpott joined him on the All-Tournament Team.
 Next for the Tars was a trip to Sioux Falls,South Dakota and the Sanford Pentagon. It was just the second time in school history Rollins was in the Elite 8. The seeds were released and the Tars as the 8 seed would have the daunting task of facing top seeded Fairmont State. The Fighting Falcons led by one (42-41) at the half but would run away with the victory in the second half to end the dream season for the little school from Winter Park.  Fairmont State would go on and be the runner up after losing to the Northwest Missouri State in the Championship Game.
 Rollins had guys burst onto the scene this year like Freshman of The Year Connor McKim. Jeff Merton and Sam Philpott were the guys who carried them night after night. Joey Galvis was in the top 10 in the nation in steals and was deadly from the 3-point line. Jakkobi Bonner showed a glimpse of what is to come for the next four years. Clark would get granted a medical redshirt so he will be back next year. Marcus Camacho saw the court in a couple tournament games- Jack Fleming continued to be one of the best 3-point shooter's Rollins has seen in a while- Nils Lehmann was the unsung hero who was inserted into the starting lineup and the team just kept on winning. Zach Ulian will fill a hole as a shooter next year assuming he can stay healthy- Mike Bedulskis finished a up and down career on a all time high- Eric Castaneda was clutch in several tournament games when it counted most both on offense and especially on the defensive end. Daniel Loh got his name in the scoresheet in the tournament- Blake Admire was solid much of the season and was real good in spots.
Jim "Shooter Ferro-  Robert Segal and Nate Weyant brought the raido to you throughout this season. This would not have been possible without Austin David at the controls and Juan Bernal giving all his basketball insight pre and post game. But if there is one memory that will stick with us forever after this fine season it was how this team never gave up and was probably the most resilient in Rollins History. And of course speaking of a fond memory from the tourney who can ever forgot the Jim "Shooter" Ferro call can you say Elite Eight- Can You say Elite Eight!