Baran's Three Lifts Tars Into Sweet 16!

Nikola Baran nailed a three pointer as time expired to lift the Rollins College Tars (27-5) to the sweet sixteen for the second time in school history. The 74-71 win over Barry was the third time the Tars had beaten the Buccaneers in four tries this season and the second consecutive Sunday. The win was the 550th in the storied coaching career of Tom Klusman.

The Tars were led by another stellar effort from Nick Wolf. The Junior from Cincinnati had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists on the evening. Baran netted 15 points, Myk Brown scored 13 despite battling flu like symptoms all day long, Matt Robertson chipped in 10 for the Tars. Rollins shot the ball very well as they shot 54% from the field and were 9 of 20 (45%) from beyond the arc. RC was 13 of 17 (77%) which was much better than the 10 of 21 they posted yesterday from the charity stripe.

The loss ended the Buccaneers season at 20-12. BU was led by Tony Dennison with 22 points. Dennison was 9-11 from the field and 3-5 from long range. Dennison also added a pair of steals and 6 rebounds. Erick Nsangou and Marvin Davis each added 12 points for Barry. The Bucs shot 60% from the field and 9 of 21 from long range in the game. BU was a miserable 6-13 (46%) at the foul line.

As has been the pattern in the past few games the Tars got off to another slow start. Barry hit the first seven shots they took and raced out to a 19-8 lead behind four buckets from Dennison. The Tars would fight back though and after a trey by Nick Wolf it would be 23-21 BU after a 13-4 Tars run (all the points in the run were scored by Baran, Wolf and Brown.) The Tars would then go on another run over the next 8 minutes and after a Myk Brown hoop would lead 35-34 with 4:02 in the half. Barry would finish the half strong and take a 41-37 lead into the locker room. Zach Trapp would bury a desperation heave at the end of the half to give the Bucs some momentum going into the locker room. The Bucs would stretch that lead out to seven at the beginning of the second half. Rollins would then go on a 12-1 run to grab a 52-49 lead with 9:49 to play. The Tars and Buccaneers would trade the lead six times over the rest of the game before the Baran three off a dish from Matt Robertson won it. The #11 Tars who are the second seed in the region will take on #8 ranked and 4th seeded Valdosta St. in the regional final Tuesday night. The Blazers eliminated the top seeded and host Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech 72-60 on Sunday night. The tip for Tuesday's regional final is set for 9:30 PM eastern time. The Tars have been to the elite 8 once in the school's history back in 2004. With the win on Sunday night the Tars matched the most wins in a single season in school history.