JOLIET, Ill. - In their final game of 2012, the Regents men's basketball team fell on the road to the University of St. Francis Saints. The two teams battled back and forth for much of the afternoon before the Saints took control of the game over the final 11 minutes in the second half and coasted to a 74-60 win. With Monday's loss, Rockford is now 3-5 against the University of St. Francis.

The first half of the game was a low-scoring defensive affair. Rockford junior guard Scott Suchy (Genoa, Ill./Genoa-Kingston) led all scorers in the half scoring 9 points, including connecting on a pair of free throws with three seconds left to give Rockford a 28-27 lead entering halftime.

The Regents fell behind early in the second half as the Saints came out of the break on fire making 5 three-point baskets in the first 5 minutes and 30 seconds of the half. Depsite the Saints hot shooting, the Regents were able to hang in there thanks to the outstanding play of Tory Minnifield (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower). Minnifield went on a 10-0 run by himself over a two and a half minute span to keep Rockford within 6 points. Fellow junior David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) scored 5 of the team's next 7 points to tie the game at 50. However, the Regents were not able to get over the hump as the Saints closed the game on a 24-10 run over the final 11 minutes and 11 seconds for the 74-60 victory. 

Rockford saw solid play out of a trio of juniors on Monday. Scott Suchy once again led the way scoring 18 points for the Regents. Suchy is currently second in the NAC in scoring, averaging 19.6 points per game. The junior also contributed 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal to round out his afternoon. Tory Minnifield had a huge second half scoring 16 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes of the game. He also added 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal to his totals. In his third game in a Rockford uniform, David Dixon scored 13 points, had 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block coming off the bench. Dixon has now scored at least 10 points in all three of his games so far this season.

Following a few days off, the men's basketball team will return to NAC play on Saturday, January 5th. The Regents will travel to Fond du Lac, Wis. to play the Marian University Sabres at 4:15 p.m.