WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball team capped off a busy Saturday at Rubin Arena with a matchup against Rollins.

The Sailfish faced a tough test in their first conference matchup of the season in the form of Rollins (3-1, 1-0 SSC). The Tars entered tonight's matchup coming off a win against No. 2-ranked Flagler on Tuesday. In their last matchup, PBA (2-2, 1-0 SSC) earned its first win of the season against Florida National on Wednesday night. The game was tightly contested throughout, filled with made threes and rim-rattling dunks, and it was the Sailfish who came out on top, 79-71. Tonight's game was PBA head coach Cole Rose's first Sunshine State Conference matchup as head coach of the Sailfish.

Jules Jasmin stuffed the stat sheet tonight, leading the Sailfish with 22 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three assists, and a block, shooting 9-for-13. Will Lee finished with 14 points with seven rebounds, three assists, and three triples. Jalen Cooper recorded 13 points, including two Sportscenter-worthy dunks, with nine rebounds. Jakob Hester notched the first double-double of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Nate Ward added nine points with three rebounds, one steal, and one block.

The Sailfish got the Rubin Arena crowd into the game early, started off with a dunk by Jasmin off a backdoor cut on the first play of the game. PBA began to build a lead at the tail end of the first 10 minutes. A pair of dunks by Cooper was part of a 10-0 run that gave the 'Fish a 20-12 lead midway through the half. Every time as if it seemed like PBA was going to break away, Rollins answered with a triple to stay within striking distance. A pair of dunks by the Tars down the stretch made it 31-27 at the halftime break.

PBA held a commanding 26-17 advantage on the boards in the first period while holding Rollins to 33 percent from the field. The Sailfish totaled 22 points in the paint in the period compared to just 10 for the Tars. 

Rollins came out of halftime energized, starting the period with an 11-2 run to take a 38-34 lead. Coach Rose called a timeout at the 17-minute mark to settle his team and implore them to play harder. The Sailfish responded as an open 3-pointer by Jasmin kickstarted a 16-0 run which included a layup from Hester, a pair of free throws, and a layup from Alexander Gorton, a pair of buckets from Ward, and a dunk by Jasmin. The run gave PBA a 50-38 lead and forced a Rollins timeout.

The Tars did not go away. Minutes later, a pair of triples from Rollins made it a 53-50 game, still in PBA's favor with 7:45 left. PBA kept its distance thanks to a bucket from Jasmin and a layup and 3-pointer from Lee to make it 60-50 with six and a half minutes to go. 3-pointers kept the Tars in the game, cutting it to a five-point Sailfish lead with just over three minutes left. A putback dunk from Cooper kept the momentum on PBA's side. Lee hit a dagger 3-pointer to give the Sailfish an 11-point lead with just over one minute left. The Sailfish held off the Tars down the stretch by making their free throws, winning 79-71.

PBA's heckling defense forced Rollins into making 19 turnovers leading to 18 points for PBA. The Sailfish continued the trend of bullying the Tars in the paint, finishing the game with 44 points down low. PBA finished the game with an 11-rebound advantage over the Tars, including 14 offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points.

The Sailfish take a break for Thanksgiving before hosting Fort Lauderdale on Friday. The game at Rubin Arena takes place at 2 p.m.