LISLE, Ill. - The men's basketball team dropped its final game of the 2012-13 regular season 75-64 on the road to the Benedictine University Eagles. The Eagles jumped on the Regents early in the game and Rockford was never able to recover as Benedictine led the entire game. Despite losing its final four games, the Regents grabbed the #6 seed in the 8 team Northern Athletics Conference Tournament and will play at Dominican University in the quarterfinals. The two teams split the season series with each team winning on the other team's court. Both games came down to the wire and were decided by a combined total of 5 points. Saturday's tournament game will take place in River Forest, Ill. in Igini Sports Forum at 2:00 p.m.
Benedictine opened the first half scoring the first nine points of the evening and taking a 9-0 lead after only three and a half minute of play. After a strategic time out by Rockford, the Regents scored 8 of the next 9 points to close the gap to a 10-8 Benedictine lead thanks in part to a pair of three-point baskets from junior Scott Suchy (Genoa, Ill./Genoa-Kingston). However, the Eagles quickly turned the tide and seized control of the remainder of the first half taking a 40-27 lead into the break.
After the Eagles took a 17 point lead shortly into the second half, the Regents made a valiant effort and found themselves back in the game. Rockford went on a 14-0 spurt to cut the Benedictine lead to 51-48. The Regents used a balanced scoring attack on their run getting points from five different players including 5 points from Scott Suchy and 4 points from Tory Minnifield (Blue Island, Ill./Eisenhower). However, the Regents could not get any closer than 3 points before the Eagles rebuilt their lead to double-digits and soared to an eleven point victory.
Rockford relied heavily on its starters on difficult shooting night where its bench was outscored 20-10 by Benedictine. Scott Suchy was once again the team's leading scorer pouring in 18 points and collecting 9 rebounds. Senior Grant Olsen (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) had the best shooting performance of the evening for the Regents. Olsen connected on 5 of 12 shots for 11 points. Tory Minnifield scored 13 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, had 3 steals and 2 assists. David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) scored 11 points with 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist and 1 block. Junior point guard Arthur Miller IV (Burlington, Wis./Burlington) led the team with a season-high 6 assists.
