RIVER FOREST, Ill. - The RU men's basketball team shook off a shaky start Wednesday night and battled back for an 88-76 win at Concordia University Chicago. Rockford played particularly well in the second half shooting a blistering 62.5% from the field as the Regents outscored the Cougars 48-36 over the final twenty minutes of the game. The Regents especially excelled at both the free throw line and on the boards. Rockford outrebounded Concordia Chicago 51-41 and made more free throws (22) than the Cougars attempted (14).
After junior Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill.) and freshman Tony Diemer (Rockford, Ill.) connected on Rockford's first two shot attempts putting the Regents in front 4-2, Rockford did not lead again until the 4:30 mark. Prior to Rockford going back in front, Concordia Chicago methodically built their lead up to a game-high 10 points at 31-21. Fortunately, the Regents immediately responded with an 11-0 run over the next 4 minutes to pull back ahead. Senior Brandon Tyson (Joliet, Ill.) sparked the run scoring the first four points after coming off the bench. Fellow senior Michael Murray (Princeton, Ill.) scored 5 of the remaining 7 points as he knocked down a three-pointer and a pair of free throws. Murray would continue his hot streak scoring Rockford's final six points of the half as the Regents and Cougars entered halftime tied at 40-40.
The Regents then came out of the intermission on fire scoring 14 points in the opening 3:33 to get their lead to double-figures. Michael Murray and John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky.) combined to score 12 of the 14 points with 7 and 5 respectively. Unfortunately, the Cougars refused to go into the night quietly as they were able to cut the Rockford lead down to two points on several occasions. However, each time the Regents were able to answer right back with a bucket of their own. Eventually Rockford was able to put the game away with a 9-1 run during the closing minutes of the game. Junior Zach Wallace led the way scoring 4 of the 9 points as the Regents tamed the Cougars down the stretch with an 88-76 win.
Senior Michael Murray again led the way with his first 30-point performance of the season and his eighth double-double. Murray poured in a game-high 31 points and 13 rebounds. The senior connected on 10-of-18 shot attempts and went 10-for-14 from the free throw line while also blocking a pair of shots.
Junior forward Zach Wallace had arguably his best game of the season on Wednesday night. Wallace recorded his second double-double of the year with 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 12 rebounds. He also blocked 6 shots which is just one off his season-high and had 2 assists. Wallace's 6 blocks gives him 106 blocked shots and breaks the RU school record for blocks in a career. The previous record was 105 career blocks set back in 1998 by Adnan Krupal.
Senior Brandon Tyson gave Rockford a huge lift off the bench with his best effort of the season. Tyson led all bench players with a season-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He rounded out his evening with 5 rebounds and 1 assist.
The Rockford University men's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday, January 9 at home against Edgewood College. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Seaver Center.
