RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The Regents men's basketball team wrapped up its three-game road trip on Wednesday night in exciting fashion with a 97-91 overtime victory against Dominican University. Tonight's victory was instrumental in keeping Rockford's postseason hopes alive as now the Regents are just 0.5 game back of the eighth and final playoff spot with just three games remaining.
Rockford led for nearly the entire first half but was never quite able to pull away from Dominican. Sophomore Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill.) helped get the Regents off to a fast start connecting on his first two shot attempts to give his team an early 9-3 advantage. Rockford's lead hovered around 6 points for nearly the entire half until the Stars used a 6-0 run to take their first lead of game at 34-32 with 3:08 remaining before halftime. However, junior Michael Murray (Princeton, Ill.) and sophomore Trae Blumhorst (Mendota, Ill.) closed the half on a 5-2 run giving Rockford a 37-36 lead at the break.
The second half got off to a great start for Rockford as the Regents used a 19-2 run over a five minute period to take their largest lead of the evening at 58-43. Rockford was a blistering 7-of-9 from the floor as four different Regents scored during the run led by 7 points from John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky.) and 6 points from Zach Wallace. The Rockford lead remained around 10 points until the 5:46 mark when Dominican went on a 15-6 run of its own to make it just a one-point game with 3 minutes and 3 seconds remaining. Rockford continued to cling to its one-point advantage with under 1 minute remaining until Dominican pulled in front by 2 points off a 3-pointer with only 23 seconds left in regulation. Despite blowing its double-digit second half lead, the Regents did not surrender as Trae Blumhorst came through in the clutch with a layup to tie the game in the closing seconds and force overtime.
The overtime period belonged to Rockford as it outscored Dominican 15-9. Zach Wallace was once again the catalyst for the Regents offense scoring the first 7 points in overtime to put his team in front 89-82. Rockford extended its advantage to as many as 9 points en route to the 97-91 win.
Zach Wallace led all scorers with 27 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor and went a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. The sophomore also grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
Sophomore Trae Blumhorst continued his torrid scoring streak with his fifth 20-point game of the season and fourth in his last five games. Blumhorst poured in 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting along with grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists.
Juniors John O'Bryan and Kenny Parks (Mascoutah, Ill.) were the final two Regents in double-figures. O'Bryan scored 18 points including knocking down an impressive 5-of-9 three-pointers. Parks played a solid all-around game with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Ross Arteaga (Mendota, Ill.) tallied a season-high 11 assists along with 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 points.
The men's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday, February 7 against Edgewood College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Seaver Center.
