ROCKFORD, Ill.- Known as a spark plug and offensive threat off of the bench his first two seasons for the Regents, junior guard John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky.) has started to come into his own in the early part of the 2014-15 season. After scoring 27 points in each of his previous two games, O'Bryan stepped up his game and scored a career high 35 points to lead Rockford to its first win of the season.
O'Bryan's huge first half helped Rockford get out to a big 20 point halftime lead. Rockford started out with a 6-0 lead to begin the game thanks to a bucket by O'Bryan and two layups by Kenny Parks (Mascoutah, Ill.). Four more points by Parks helped the Regents go up by nine five minutes into the first half. At the 14:42 mark, O'Bryan started going off and hit two quick three-pointers.
Rockford had a seven point lead at the 8 minute mark when O'Bryan scored five points in 40 seconds to push the lead to 12. A few minutes later, O'Bryan scored seven points in a 30 second period. The Regents continued to push their lead, and with ten seconds left in the half O'Bryan hit another three-pointer to put the halftime score at 48-28 Rockford.
The Regents had a more balanced attack in the second half of the game. Led by Zach Wallace's (Rockford, Ill.) 11 points, Rockford was able to hold off the Stars and its lead was never less than seven the rest of the game. Rockford shot 49% from the field, 47% from the three-point line, and 76% from the free throw line.
In addition to O'Bryan's 35 points, he had three rebounds, an assist, and two steals. He made 6-of-10 three-pointers. Also in double digits were Wallace with 13 and Parks with 14. Wallace had a game high nine rebounds and he also had two blocks. Parks added in five rebounds, a steal, and a block. Jerry Pratt (Minneapolis, Minn.) continued to be a force off of the bench. He had an all-around good game scoring nine points, recovering four rebounds, blocked two balls, and he had one steal.
Rockford's season continues in two days at 7:00 p.m. when the Regents travel to Aurora. The team's next home game is on December 13 at 4:15 against Wisconsin Lutheran.
