Kent State’s Julius Rollins made a mistake on the worst attainable time in Saturday evening’s MAC match championship recreation.
Rollins fouled Akron’s Greg Tribble with six seconds left and his group main 61-60. Rollins’ foul got here after Cli’Ron Hornbeak hit a go-ahead jumper within the lane to offer the Golden Flashes the lead.
It’s clear that Rollins thought his group was nonetheless trailing after Hornbreak’s jumper. As the remainder of his teammates received again on protection, he sprinted as much as commit a foul pondering his group wanted one other possession.
It didn’t. And Tribble made each free throws to offer Akron a 62-61 lead that held up when Jalen Sullinger missed a game-winning try earlier than the buzzer.
We’ve all made psychological errors in some unspecified time in the future in our lives, and it’s extraordinarily unlucky that Rollins’ mistake got here when his group was so shut to creating the NCAA match. Kent State went 8-10 within the MAC in 2023-24 and knocked off Toledo and Bowling Inexperienced to have a shot to make the NCAA match for the second straight season.
As a substitute, Akron earned the convention’s solely postseason berth and is heading to its second NCAA match previously three seasons.