Kent State’s Senderoff backs Rollins after costly foul vs. Akron
Kent State men’s basketball coach Rob Senderoff is backing his player who made a costly foul in a 62-61 loss to Akron on Saturday.
Kent State went up 61-60 in the MAC Tournament championship game after center Cli’ron Hornbeak’s dunk with five seconds remaining. When Akron inbounded the ball, Kent State guard Julius Rollins stretched out to grab the arm of Zips guard Greg Tribble in the backcourt with 4.8 seconds left.
Senderoff and other Kent State players appeared to be in disbelief.
“He probably thought we were down one, instead of up one,” Senderoff explained.
The Golden Flashes didn’t have a foul to give, so Tribble went to the free throw line, where he knocked down both free throws to take the lead 62-61. Kent State guard Jalen Sullinger got a shot off with one second remaining but missed what would have been the game winner.
If Kent State had won, it would have secured back-to-back MAC Tournament championships and an earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Senderoff, however, maintained one play does not make or break a game, and he took responsibility.
“As I told the team, I should have called a timeout there. I do not blame Julius,” he said. “There’s 100 plays in the game, and that was just one of them.”
Senderoff said Rollins is devastated over the costly mistake: “Right now it’s probably the worst thing that’s ever happened to him.”
But he also urged Rollins to keep things in perspective.
“This is the thing I told him – I didn’t tell the whole team – I told him if this is the worst thing that’s happened to you when you’re 50 years old like I am, then you’ve lived a pretty charmed life,” Senderoff said. “Tomorrow the sun will come up, it will be a little cloudy for me and for our guys, but the sun will come up tomorrow.”