MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford University men's basketball team moved into a tie for second place on Saturday with an impressive 88-62 road win over the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors. Rockford outplayed Wisconsin Lutheran in every facet of the game including shooting a blistering 52.9% from the floor and 42.9% from three-point range. One of the deciding factors in the game was Rockford's ability to work the ball inside to get easy baskets and dominate the paint outscoring the Warriors 44-26.
The first half saw five lead changes and three ties in the opening ten and a half minutes of play before Rockford seized control of the game. After falling behind in the opening moments of the game, the Regents connected on back-to-back-to-back three-pointers courtesy of seniors John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky.) and Ross Arteaga (Mendota, Ill.). The Regents and Warriors then traded baskets until Rockford went on a 12-0 run and took a 32-20 lead. Seniors John O'Bryan and Michael Murray (Princeton, Ill.) led the charge scoring four points each as Rockford began to pull away. Rockford would extend its lead to 18 points entering halftime as freshman Ben Temrowski (Rochester, Mich.) knocked in a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half.
The second half was never close as Rockford led by double-digits the entire way. The Regents quickly pushed their lead up to 20 points after Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill.) and Tony Diemer (Rockford, Ill.) scored six quick points making it 51-31. Wisconsin Lutheran would however get back within 11 points before the Regents used an 18-4 run to put the game out of reach. Five different Regents scored during the run led by six points from Michael Murray and four from Tony Diemer. Rockford eventually extended its lead to a game-high 27 points before rolling to an 88-62 win.
Senior John O'Bryan led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting including going 4-of-9 from three-point range. He also added 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. This is the fifth straight game that O'Bryan has hit the double-digit scoring plateau and the seventh time this season.
Michael Murray, Tony Diemer and Zach Wallace were the other three Regents to reach double-digits in scoring. Murray had 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting while also adding 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Diemer added 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed 7 rebounds. Wallace scored 14 points making 7-of-15 shot attempts while corralling 7 rebounds with 1 assist and 1 block.
Ross Arteaga and Ben Temrowski also contributed heavily in the win. Arteaga had a career-high 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 points. Temrowksi scored 9 points as the freshman drained a trio of three-pointers.
The RU men's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday, January 2 at home against Lakeland College. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Seaver Center.
