MEQUON, Wis. - It was another difficult day for the Rockford University men's basketball team on Saturday as it lost 103-91 to the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons. Both schools shot near lights out in the game with Rockford making 52.2% of its shot attempts and Concordia Wisconsin connecting on 56.9% of its field goal attempts. The Regents have now lost five straight games, but still remain in control of the eighth and final spot in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Postseason Tournament.
Saturday's game saw seven ties and seven lead changes with the majority of those occurring in the first half. The Regents grabbed their largest lead of the afternoon at the 12:12 mark when senior David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) collected an offensive rebound and drained a jump shot to give his team an 18-11 lead. However, the lead disappeared quickly as the Falcons went on a 14-4 run to take their first lead since very early in the first half. Concordia Wisconsin would push its lead up to as many as 12 points, but Rockford closed the half strong scoring the final five points to enter the intermission trailing 48-43.
The second half turned out to be much different than the first as the Regents led for just twelve seconds. The Falcons opened the second half by extending their advantage back to as many as eight points. However, the Regents answered back with a 12-2 run over a 3-minute span to grab a 63-61 lead, their first of the second half. Senior Scott Suchy (Genoa, Ill./Genoa-Kingston) scored six of the twelve points including the final two points that gave Rockford the lead. It was however very short lived as the Falcons quickly answered scoring the next seven points to go back up by five. The Concordia Wisconsin lead would remain at or around five points until the Falcons concluded a 9-2 run with just over two minutes remaining to grab a 95-83 lead. Rockford was unable to seriously cut into the lead for the remainder of the game and fell 103-91.
Senior David Dixon was once again the leading scorer for the Regents. Dixon scored a game-high 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting including knocking down an impressive 4-of-7 three point attempts. He has now scored at least 20 points in nine of the team's seventeen games and currently leads the NACC in scoring averaging 21.4 points per game.
Rockford got more than two-thirds of its remaining points from three of its remaining starters. Senior Scott Suchy chipped in 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. Fellow senior Phil Andrade (South Chicago Heights, Ill./Bloom Trail) hit double-figures in scoring for the fourth time this season and the third time in the last six games. Andrade rounded out his line with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Freshman Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill./Belvidere) was the final Regent to crack double-digits in scoring. The freshman poured in 14 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked 2 shots.
The Regents return to action on Wednesday, January 22nd at home against Concordia University Chicago. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in the Seaver Center.
