ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University men's basketball team opened its season with an impressive 89-84 win over the Loras College Duhawks on Friday night at the Seaver Center. The Regents shot a stellar 56.7% from the floor and 44.4% from beyond the arc. Rockford was able to get some good looks thanks in part to its defense, which forced 20 turnovers and blocked 5 shots.
Nearly the entire first half of the game belonged to the Regents. After a difficult start for both teams, senior forward David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) helped to jumpstart the Regents offense. Dixon scored 9 points on a 14-2 run midway through the first half to give his team an early 24-12 advantage. Rockford pushed its lead out to as much as 15 points before the Duhawks slowly chipped away and eventually made it a 5 point Regent lead at halftime.
The second half was a back and forth affair with 14 lead changes as neither team was able to pull away. The Duhawks opened the half on an 8-2 run to grab their first lead since the 14:33 mark in the first half. Rockford quickly retook the lead as the two team's traded jabs over the next 10 minutes of play before David Dixon drained his fourth three-point basket of the evening to put his team up 77-75 with 7:25 remaining. Dixon added a tip-in before fellow senior Tory Minnifield (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower) scored five quick points to extend Rockford's lead to 11 with only 4:06 left in the second half. The Duhawks would not go into the night easily as they were able to make it a one-possession game with the ball in the closing moments. As the clock was running down, Rockford got a huge series of plays from freshman Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill./Belvidere). Wallace came up with a steal on a lose ball and was then fouled with 11 seconds left and the Regents up just 3 points. The freshman calmly stepped to the free throw line and nailed a pair of clutch free throws to seal the 89-84 win.
Offensively Rockford was led by the dynamic duo of David Dixon and Tory Minnifield. Dixon scored a game-high 30 points on 13-21 shooting including going 4-6 from beyond the three-point line. The senior also added 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks to his totals. Minnifield turned in an equally impressive performance in Rockford's home opener. The Blue Island native poured in 23 points going an impressive 8-9 from the field including 2-2 from three-point range. Minnifield rounded out his evening with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Regents also got solid efforts from a pair of players making their Rockford University debuts. Junior transfer Marlon Sykes (Chicago, Ill./John Marshall) directed the Rockford offense for much of the game scoring 12 points with 4 assists and recording 4 steals. Freshman Zach Wallace finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1 steal in his first collegiate game.
The men's basketball team returns to action next Wednesday, November 20th with its NACC opener at Concordia University Chicago. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
