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
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