MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford University men's basketball team lost its first game of the year on Saturday 77-70 against the MSOE Raiders. Despite the two schools finishing with near identical team statistics the Raiders had the advantage in two key areas, shooting percentage and rebounding. The Regents allowed the Raiders to shoot 52.3% from the floor and were outrebounded 33-24 on Saturday afternoon.

Rockford fell behind early in the first half of the game and was never really able to recover. With the game tied at 5-5 exactly two minutes in, the Raiders went on a 16-3 run to take control of the game. The Regents were never able to get the deficit under double-digits for the remainder of the half and went into the intermission trailing 43-31. 

Rockford was able to cut the MSOE lead back down to single-digits on a few different occasions in the second half, but was never able to fully get back within striking distance. After MSOE had stretched its lead out to 14 points, Rockford senior Tory Minnifield (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower) took over. Minnifield scored 8 straight points for the Regents in just over a two-minute span and got his team back to within 8. However, the Regents were not able to get any closer until the closing seconds when they hit a three-point basket, but it was not enough as Rockford fell 77-70.

Senior Tory Minnifield played an excellent game for the Regents on Saturday. Minnifield scored a game-high 19 points on 5-9 shooting including knocking down 3 of his 4 three-point attempts. The senior also grabbed 4 rebounds, had 3 steals and 1 assist to round out his day. 

David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) was the other Regent in double-figures on Saturday. Dixon narrowly missed his third double-double of the season as he scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds. 

Point guard Marlon Sykes (Chicago, Ill./John Marshall) added 9 points, 3 assists and 2 steals for the Regents.

The men's basketball team returns to the court on Tuesday, December 3rd on the road against Dominican University. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.