Brutal mistake brings conference tournament final to shocking end

Any loss in a conference tournament final is tough, especially to a team that has no chance of reaching the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid. But it’s hard to imagine that any loss tournament final loss will be any worse than the one Kent State had on Saturday night against Akron.

With his Golden Flashes trailing by a point in the final seconds, Jalen Sullinger drove the lane and took a shot. It missed, but Kent State’s Cli’Ron Hornbeak was there for the tip-in, giving the Golden Flashes a 61-60 lead. The Zips inbounded the ball but as Akron’s Greg Tribble began to dribble the ball up the court, he was quickly fouled by Kent State’s Julius Rollins.

The anguish on Golden Flashes coach Rob Senderoff’s face was palpable. The rest of Rollins’ teammates were wondering what he was doing. Color commentator Mark Adams noted, “Julius Rollins did not know time and score and fouled on the play. Reached out and fouled.” Rollins himself even sat on the bench cursing himself, asking “What did I just do?”

Tribble made full use of the one-and-one free throws, making both to put Akron back ahead by a point. The Golden Flashes had one more chance — but missed a buzzer-beater. And with that, Kent State was done.

The shocking ending got the attention of the college basketball world on Saturday night.

[Photo Credit: ESPN2]