Three In Double Figures As Rollins Can't Handle Pressure Of NSU.

Basketball can be a cruel game sometimes. That was on full display Tuesday night at Rick Case Arena on the campus of Nova Southeastern. In the two meetings during the regular season Rollins upset top ranked NSU 86-85 on the road- then lost by four at home. On Tuesday in the Quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament the second highest scoring team in the nation shredded the top scoring defense in the conference- and- Rollins turned the ball over 24 times (18 in the first half) in a 115-81 NSU victory. Jakobi Bonner scored 22 points in his final game in a Rollins uniform- Trevor Recio added 16 in his final game of his Rollins career- and- Dayton Gumm scored 10 in the last game of the Rollins season.
 The Tars shot 49 percent as a team- 54 percent (7-13) from the 3-point line- and- 80 percent (24-30) at the free throw line. The Tars had 14 assists- and- 24 turnovers in the contest.
 The second seeded Sharks jumped out to a lead early and never trailed in this one. Mikkel Kolstad hit a pair of 3-pointer's to start the game and made seven on the day on his way to 23 points- Eddie Puisis hit five triples on his way to 17 points- Lukas Spiedel was three for three from long range on his way to 15 points- Mark Matthews added 14 to go along with 10 rebounds- and- RJ Sunahara netted 11. The Sharks shot a blistering 67 percent from the floor- 66 percent (21-32) from the 3-point line- and- shot 80 percent (12-15) at the free throw line. NSU won the rebounding battle 27-25. They had 33 assists- and- 16 turnovers in the contest.
 Kolstad hit two 3-pointer's in the games first minute to set the tone in this one. After a Bonner three-point play at the 15:38 mark of the half Rollins was down 13-5. The Sharks would then go on a 12-0 run to open up a 20 point lead (25-5)  a little more than three minutes later. Halfway thru the opening half it was 29-10 in favor of NSU. After another three point play by Bonner it was a 34-17 Rollins deficit at the 8:14 mark of the half. Rollins would go on a quick 5-0 run as Parker Davis hit a 3-pointer- and- Recio hit a pair of free throws to make it 37-22 with 6:51 in the opening stanza. NSU would go another 10-0 spurt to make the lead 47-22 with 4:01 in the half. It would ultimately be a 61-31 NSU lead at the break.
 The second half was much like the first half as the Tars would have no answer for the high powered Sharks offense on this night. NSU looked nothing like the team who had finished the regular season 2-3 having not reached 100 points in any of those contests. With 5:13 remaining NSU would eclipse the century mark on a Jake Maranville 3-pointer. The Sharks are now 15-1 on the season when they score 100 points or more.
 Rollins finishes the campaign 14-15 on the season. NSU with the win advances to the Semifinals of the SSC Tournament where they will host third seeded Palm Beach Atlantic on Thursday night.
Other SSC Scores Quarterfinals:
#3 Palm Beach Atlantic 96 #6 Saint Leo 69
#5 Embry-Riddle 80 #4 Barry 64
#1 Florida Southern 97 #8 Lynn 80
SSC Semis (Thursday:)
Nova Southeastern 93 Palm Beach Atlantic 78
Florida Southern 80 Embry-Riddle 77
SSC Final:
Florida Southern 118 Nova Southeastern 109
South Region Opening Round (Games Hosted by Florida Southern:)
#1 Florida Southern vs #8 Miles
#4 Alabama Huntsville vs #5 Lee
#2 Nova Southeastern vs #7 Embry-Riddle
#3 Valdosta State vs #6 Palm Beach Atlantic

Rollins Travels To NSU To Start SSC Tournament.

The seventh seeded Rollins College Tars will head to Fort Lauderdale to take on the second seeded Nova Southeastern Sharks in the quarterfinals of the Sunshine State Conference. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 PM at Rick Case Arena.
 Rollins (14-14 8-12 SSC) was a loser in the season finale to an Eckerd team that did not qualify for the conference tournament. The Tars split a pair of meetings with thTrwvor e Sharks in the regular season. In the first meeting in December Rollins stunned the top ranked NSU squad on the road- then later in the season the Sharks were a four point winner in Winter Park. Rollins is 9-5 on the season away from Warden Arena.
 Jakobbi Bonner leads the season box score for the Tars putting up 18.3 points per game- The senior has scored in double figures in four straight contests- and- has only been held under double digits once this season. Connor Mckim is scoring 10.9 per night- and- leads the team in assists at 3.2 per night. Dayton Gumm (10.8 ppg-) and- Kyle Marion (10.0 ppg-) also are averaging double figures on the year.  Trevor Recio leads the team in rebounding grabbing 7.4 boards per game- while Brooks Cluxton is not far behind grabbing 6.6 caroms per contest. Rollins is scoring 77.3 points a game on offense- while they lead the SSC on defense giving up 76.1 per contest.
 14th ranked NSU (21-5 15-5 SSC) is coming off a loss to Embry-Riddle to close the regular season on  Saturday. NSU leads the nation in shooting at 53 percent from the field- and- are second in the nation behind only West Liberty in offense scoring 101.3 points per night. Mark Matthews leads the Sharks and is fourth in the SSC in scoring at 21.8 points per game- he also grabs 7.3 rebounds- and- dishes out 5.1 assists per contest. Nick Smith is contributing 14.1 per night- while RJ Sunahara tallies 13.3 points per contest to go along with 7.1 rebounds per night. The Tars have been held under 100 points in each of the teams final five games and have gone just 2-3 in that span.
 Rollins leads the all time series with NSU 31-19- including going 2-1 in the SSC Tournament.
The winner will face the winner of #3 Palm Beach Atlantic and #6 Saint Leo.
You can catch the Tars games all post season long on 91.5 FM WPRK and Worldwide on RollinsSports.com with Jim "Shooter" Ferro and Robert Siegel on the call.
The line presented by JuanBernalSportsBooks.com: Nova Southeastern by 6.5
Other SSC Lines Tuesday (All lines presented by JuanBernalSportsBooks.com:)
#8 Lynn +10 @ #1 Florida Southern
#6 Saint Leo +6 @ #3 Palm Beach Atlantic
#5 Embry-Riddle + 5 @ #4 Barry