#2 NSU Edges Rollins In Season Finale

 As the calendar flips to March that means one thing. The intensity and importance of every game is magnified. The Rollins College Tars got a spirited effort on Saturday but it was not quite enough in a 75-71 loss at Rick Case Arena inside the Don Taft University Center. NSU remains the number one team in both the Sunshine State Conference and the South Region rankings. Rollins will go into the SSC tournament as the number seven seed. Rollins falls to 16-13 and 9-11 to close the regular season. NSU improves to 27-1 and 19-1 in the SSC with a 14th straight win. 

Michael Niemann got the start for Rollins and knocked down a three to open the scoring. The next six points would go to NSU as a dunk by MJ Iraldi gave them a three point lead. Niemann would tie the game at six on his second triple early. The teams traded buckets and Emillis Butkus made a layup for the Tars to tie the game at the 12:33 mark of the opening half. The NSU lead was seven (26-19) on an Alex Mangold trey with 8:31 to go in the half. After Sergey Grishaev knocked down a trey Rollins was within four (28-24) with 6:31 left in the half. The Tars quickly battled back as Ian Hart hit a triple and then kept the ball alive on the offensive glass that led to a layup by Michael Kalina that tied the game at 34 with 1:01 left in the half. After Dallas Graziani scored Rollins got a John Latimer 3-ball to give them a 37-36 lead heading into the locker room. Rollins shot 53.85 percent in the opening half, 56.25 percent (9-16) from the 3-point line, and missed the only two free throws they attempted in the first 20 minutes. The Sharks shot 57.69 percent from the field, 27.27 percent (3-11) from the 3-point line, and 60 percent (3-5) from the free throw line in the opening stanza. 

 Rollins extended the lead to three on a Butkus layup 27 seconds into the second half. The teams traded the lead several teams in the next few minutes as it was Beau Frericks who converted a layup to give Rollins a 50-49 lead at the 11:30 mark. Dylan Wolle gave the Tars a four point lead with a three of his own but the Sharks cut the lead in half on a Ryker Cisarek layup. William Jobe scored for Rollins to restore a four point lead for the Tars (55-51) with 9:35 on the clock. After Rollins held a five point lead NSU got a trey from Iraldi and then another by Graziani to give the Sharks a 61-60 lead with 6:37 to go. Butkus tied the game with a free throw but Ross Reeves put the Sharks on top with a three at the 5:33 mark. Niemann would knock down a triple of his own to knot the game at 64 with 4:22 to go. NSU scored the next five points as Reeves hit a three and Iraldi nailed a jumper with 2:39 left. After Grishaev made a free throw, the Sharks scored again. An Iraldi jam at the 45 second mark made it an eight point Shark lead (73-65.) Rollins would not go away quietly as a layup by Frericks, a pair of free throws by Latimer and a dunk by Grishaev cut the lead to two (73-71) with four ticks on the clock. Iraldi iced the game with a pair of free throws as the Sharks stayed perfect at home on the season.  

 Rollins was paced by Grishaev with 15, Latimer added 10, and Niemann netted nine in the loss. Rollins shot 47.3 percent from the field, 40 percent (12-30) from the 3-point line, and 58.3 percent (7-12) from the free throw line in the loss. The Tars won the rebounding battle 34-30. They had 19 assists and 19 turnovers in the contest. 

 NSU was led by Iraldi who poured in 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds, Reeves added 16, and Cisarik tallied 14. The Sharks shot 49.2 percent from the field, 26.9 percent (7-26) from the 3-point line, and 66.7 percent (8-12) from the free throw line in the win. They had 19 assists and 11 turnovers in this one. 

 Rollins will open play in the 2025 Sunshine State Conference Tournament this week. On Tuesday night (3/4) the seventh seeded Tars will travel to Lakeland to take on a familiar foe in #2 seed Florida Southern at 7 PM. 

Other SSC opening round matchups (all games played on 3.4:) 

#8 Barry @ #1 Nova Southeastern: 7:30 PM 

#5 Tampa @ #4 Embry-Riddle: 7:30 PM 

#6 Palm Beach Atlantic @ #3 Lynn: 7:30 PM 

Final SSC Standings: 

Nova Southeastern 19-1 (27-1) 

Florida Southern 14-6 (23-7) 

Lynn 14-6 (19-7) 

Embry-Riddle 11-9 (17-11) 

Tampa 11-9 (19-9) 

Palm Beach Atlantic 10-10 (17-11) 

Rollins 9-11 (16-13) 

Barry 8-12 (12-16) 

Eckerd 6-14 (11-17) 

Saint Leo 5-15 (10-18) 

Florida Tech 3-17 (6-22) 

South Region Rankings: 

1. Nova Southeastern 

2. Alabama-Huntsville 

3. Florida Southern 

4. Valdosta State 

5. Lynn 

6. Trevecca Nazarene 

7. Miles 

8. Montevallo 

9. Embry-Riddle 

10. Tampa 


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