ROCKFORD, Ill.- Saturday afternoon the Rockford University men's basketball team faced off against the conferences third place team the MSOE Raiders. This was a big game for Rockford who, coming into the game, was a game and a half ahead of Wisconsin Lutheran for the final conference tournament spot. In their first meeting MSOE held off a second half surge by Rockford to win 77-70.
Rockford's offense started the game on fire, making six of their first seven shots to go ahead 14-6 four minutes into the game. John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky./Madison Central) and David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) did most of the damage scoring six points each on 5-of-5 shooting. Both defenses took over the game over the next few minutes but the Regents were able to slowly build their lead. Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill./Belvidere) hit back-to-back jumpers in the paint to give Rockford a 23-11 lead with nine minutes left in the first half. MSOE would battle back and go on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes. Mario Hicks (Orlando, Fla./Trinity Prep) ended the Raiders run with a three-pointer. The rest of the half MSOE slowly ate away at Rockford's eight point lead and they would eventually tie it up on a three-pointer shortly before the end of the first half. The first half score stood at 36-36.
MSOE's offense was the one to start hot in the second half going on a 13-2 to find themselves ahead 49-38 with 13:42 left in the second half. Over the next four minutes the two teams would exchange baskets with MSOE still maintaining a 56-45 lead. MSOE would push their lead to 16 with six minutes left in the game. Scott Suchy (Genoa, Ill./Genoa-Kingston) hit a three-pointer to cut MSOE's lead down to 14 with 3:15 left in the game. Rockford was unable to mount a late game rally and fell to the Raiders 73-61. Dixon led the Regents with 16 points and eight rebounds. Also in double-digits were Wallace with ten and O'Bryan with 14.
Rockford returns to the court for a home match-up against Dominican on February 5th at 7:00 p.m. The Regents won their first match up 83-79.
