ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Roberts Wesleyan College got six points from Zack Panebianco and five from Malik Dare in the last six minutes to hold off the University of Rochester, 79-77, for the championship of the 2015 Wendy's College Classic at the Louis Alexander Palestra.
 
Tournament MVP Tyrel Dixon led the Redhawks (3-3) with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Panebianco scored 14 points, had five boards, and four assists.  Quinn Carey had four three-pointers for 12 points for RWC.
 
Jared Seltzer led the Yellowjackets with a career-high 26 points, less than 24 hours after scoring his previous career high of 24 in a semifinal win over RIT. Sam Borst-Smith scored 19 for Rochester and Mack Montague added 16.
 
The 50^th Championship Game produced one of the most thrilling endings with Rochester having a potential gamewinning shot in the last five seconds after trailing by double digits early in the game.
 
Roberts took advantage of Rochester's ice-cold shooting start (UR was 1-8 from the field) to take a 15-2 lead less than five minutes into the game. The Redhawks maintained a comfortable margin for most of the half. A layup from Dare on the break gave Roberts a 34-24 lead with 4:52 left.
 
Rochester found an offensive rhythm. The Yellowjackets went on a 10-2 spree over three minutes to pull within 36-34 with 1:43 left. Seltzer hit a trey. Tucker Knox made a layup. Michael Mangan made one of two from the line. Tyrel Dixon scored for Roberts, but Borst-Smith made back to back layups to get Rochester within two. Panebianco's three-pointer from left wing with 0:03 left gave RWC a 43-38 lead at halftime.
 
The lead went to eight early in the second half on back to back layups by Dave. Borst-Smith made two layups and Seltzer canned another trey (he was 6-10 outside the arc) to pull Rochester within a point at 53-52 and 12:26 remaining.
 Montague's 16 points was a season's high.Dixon's trey from the top of the key put Roberts ahead by six, but Rochester answered with three treys in the next 70 seconds to take what would be its only lead. Montague hit one from the right corner, then added another from left wing. After a Dixon drive, Seltzer swished one from the right corner. Rochester led, 67-66, with six minutes left.
 
A 7-0 run put Roberts in front, 73-67: one free throw by Dare, then another by Panebianco. Dixon spun for a layup and Panebianco knocked down a triple from left wing. That mini-flurry pushed RWC ahead, 73-67 with 4:30 left.
 
Borst-Smith and Seltzer divided 10 points evenly. The Yellowjackets drew within 79-77 on Borst-Smith's layup with 0:50 left. Dare missed the front end of a one-and-one with 23 seconds remaining. Rochester moved methodically upcourt. Borst-Smith darted into the circle, then threw it behind him to Seltzer for a long three at the top of the key. The ball hit the right side of the rim. Roberts rebounded. Panebianco was fouled with just over two seconds left. He missed the front end of the one-and-one. Rochester rebounded and called time with 2.1 seconds left.
 
On the inbounds play, the pass for Borst-Smith was tipped away by Darren Dixon as the horn sounded.
 
Stat Wrapup: Seltzer, Borst-Smith, and Montague provided the bulk of the scoring – 61 of Rochester's 77 points. Jacob Wittig had six points, three assists, and two steals. Ryan Clamage had four points in nine minutes… The top rebounder was Zack Ayers with seven boards. Seltzer, Borst-Smith, and Dylan Peretz had six. Rochester held a 39-36 advantage on the glass.  For Roberts, Tyrel Dixon topped all the boardmen with nine. Darren Dixon had six… Roberts hit 47.5% from the floor (29-61) and 50% outside the arc (10-20). Rochester made 44.8% of its shots (30-67) and was 11-34 beyond the arc (32.4%). Between them, the teams combined for 13 turnovers – six by Roberts, seven by Rochester.
 
All-Tournament Team:
Second Team: Keegan Ryan (St. John Fisher), Mitch Ford (Nazareth), Hamed Shamseldin (Brockport), Jamal Lucas (Hobart), Malik Dare (Roberts Wesleyan).
First Team: Justin Ringen (Geneseo), Sam Borst-Smith (Rochester), Jared Seltzer (Rochester), A.J. Horde (RIT), Quinn Carey (Roberts Wesleyan). MVP: Tyrel Dixon (Roberts Wesleyan).
 
Nick Urzetta Team Sportsmanship Award: Rochester.