Connor McKim nailed a 3-pointer with three seconds to go that proved to be the game winner, as the Rollins Tars captured the school's first tournament championship since 2011 with a 71-70 win over Palm Beach Atlantic at the ICI Center in Daytona Beach Sunday.
Rollins (21-10) will be the automatic qualifier from the Sunshine State Conference, and will play in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Tars come into the tournament winners of 13 of the last 15 contests.
The Tars trailed by 10 with less than eight minutes to go and rallied for the stunning victory. They were down six with 1:34 to go in the contest.
Jeff Merton was the tournament MVP and had a double-double (19 points and 12 rebounds) to lead the Tars. The Naples native set a new career high with 12 rebounds in this one- Eric Castaneda knocked down four 3-pointer's en route to his 12 points- Joey Galvis stuffed the stat sheet once again with nine points- eight assists- and- three steals- while McKim also scored nine including the game winner. Galvis and McKim joined Merton on the All-Tournament team.
Bakhari Warthen and Milos Kostic paced PBA (16-13) with 21 points each. Malik Barber also scored in double figures with 10.
The game began with Rollins jumping out to a 8-1 lead four and a half minutes in. After a Sailfish run they would climb to within two (17-15) at the 10 minute mark of the opening half. The Tars would lead by 16 (37-21) with 3:28 to go in the first, before the Sailfish finished the half on a 8-0 run. Rollins led 37-29 at the intermission.
The second half was a wild one, with plenty of swings of momentum. With 14:01 in the game the Tars would have a six point lead (46-40) before the Sailfish rattled off a 18-2 run that put the Tars down eight (58-50) with 7:30 to go. Rollins would be down six (70-64) with 1:34 to play after Castaneda hit a pair of huge 3-pointer's. Philpott would get the Tars within four after a pair of free throws- and then McKim would knock down a pair of his own to trim the PBA lead to two (70-68) with 48 seconds to go. After Rollins missed the front end of a one and one, Galvis would come up with a huge hustle play to force a jump ball as the arrow favored the Tars. Galvis found McKim in the left corner and he knocked down what proved to be the game winner. PBA had one last chance but could not convert as the Tars players stormed the court in celebration.
Rollins shot 50 percent as a team in the contest- they shot 41 percent (7-17) from the 3-point line. The Tars were a solid 76 percent (12-16) at the free throw line. They had 16 assists and 15 turnovers as a team.
PBA shot 45 percent as a team- 47 percent (7-15) from the 3-point line- and 63 percent (15-24) at the free throw line. The Sailfish won the rebounding battle 35-29- they had 13 assists and 14 turnovers as a team.
The tournament title was the fifth in program history. It was the first time in Tom Klusman's coaching career that his team won the title when they did not also win the regular season title.
Rollins will learn where they will play and when as the NCAA Selection Show will be held at 1030 PM on NCAA.com
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