The Rollins Tars got a Connor McKim layup with 19 seconds left and held on for a 78-75 win over Nova Southeastern in the Quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Wednesday from Warden Arena inside the Alfond Sports Center. The win improved the Tars to 16-13 on the year as they will now advance to take on top seeded Barry on Saturday at Jenkins FieldHouse on the campus of Florida Southern. The Sharks season ended at 17-10, as they lost four straight to end the year.
All five Rollins starters scored in double figures in the victory. Jeff Merton hit four 3-pointer's in the early going to account for most of his 18 points on the evening that led the way for Rollins. McKim added 14- Sam Philpott notched 13- Eric Castaneda scored 11- and- Deion Clark netted 10 in the victory. Rollins shot 56 percent from the field- 48 percent (10-21) from the 3-point line- and- 67 percent (12-18) from the free throw line in the contest. The Tars had 19 assists and 14 turnovers in the game.
NSU was led by Malik Hardy who scored a game high 30 points- Gerard Tarin added 14- and- Nick Smith scored 10 in the loss. The Sharks shot 49 percent from the floor- 24 percent (4-17) from the 3-point line- and- 81 percent (17-21) at the free throw line. The Sharks won the rebounding battle 31-23. They had 15 assists and 15 turnovers as a team.
Rollins would score the games first five points right out of the gate as Merton would knock down a 3-pointer and would feed Castaneda for a layup. Rollins would lead 16-8 before NSU would answer with six straight points. After a Tarin dunk the Sharks trailed 16-14 at the 12:49 mark of the opening half. Rollins would then open up a nine point lead (30-21) after a Parker Davis layup with 6:34 until halftime. The Tars would lead by as many as 11 (37-26) after a McKim 3-pointer with 2:44 to go in the half. The Tars would take a eight point advantage (39-31) into the locker room.
Merton was the only Rollins player in double figures with 12 in the opening half. Philpott and McKim each added five. The Tars shot 60 percent in the first 20 minutes- 63 percent (7-11) from the 3-point line- and- 50 percent (2-4) at the free throw line. They had 11 assists and seven turnovers in the opening half.
NSU was led by Hardy with 11- Dwayne Gibson and Tarin added six each. The Sharks shot 46 percent from the field and missed all six 3-pointer's in the first 20 minutes. They did shoot 82 percent (9-11) from the free throw line. NSU won the rebounding battle 16-8 in the opening stanza. They had three assists and 11 turnovers in the half.
The Sharks quickly erased the halftime deficit and would knot the game at 45 after a Smith 3-pointer at the 15:58 mark. NSU would lead by two (56-54) halfway thru the second half. The Sharks would have what would be the largest lead of the game for them 62-54 after a Hardy 3-pointer with 9:02 to go. Rollins would chip away and at the 4:34 mark they would tie the game with a Clark tip-in. Merton would split a pair of free throws before NSU would get the lead back (70-69) after a Nick Stampley tip-in with just under four minutes to go. Castaneda would score the next four Rollins points as he would hit a pair of free throws and then make a layup with 1:20 to go to give the Tars a 73-70 lead. Hardy would knot the game at 73 with a 3-pointer with 45 seconds to go. McKim would give Rollins the lead for good after a layup with 19 seconds to go. After a big defensive stop by Rollins Merton would split a pair of free throws with nine seconds left. Rollins would foul with six seconds to go and Hardy would hit both free throws to make it 76-75. McKim's free throws with 4.9 seconds would stretch the lead to three (78-75.) David Dennis would try and draw a foul with two seconds left but it was ruled that he initiated the contact, Jeff Merton secured the rebound and the Tars advanced to play Barry on Saturday.
Other SSC Quarterfinals:
#1 Barry 102 #8 Florida Tech 83
#2 Eckerd 83 #7 Palm Beach Atlantic 65
#3 Florida Southern 80 #6 Lynn 70
SSC Semifinals (Saturday 3/3 @ Jenkins FieldHouse:)
#1 Barry vs #4 Rollins 12 PM
#2 Eckerd vs #3 Florida Southern 2:30 PM
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