MEQUON, Wis. - The Rockford University men's basketball team picked up a huge 88-82 road win on Tuesday night over the first place Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons. The Regents led almost wire-to-wire and outplayed Concordia Wisconsin pretty much the entire evening. Rockford shot a sizzling 55.9% from the floor including a season-high 42.9% from beyond the arc, while holding one of the top shooting teams in the NACC to just 40.8% from the field and a measly 34.4% from three-point range.
The Regents were able to put some distance between themselves and Falcons just over midway through the first half. With the score tied at 25-25, Rockford used an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead for the first time in the game. Junior Arthell Rosquist (Zion, Ill.) and senior Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill.) led the charge scoring 6 and 4 points respectively over the three-minute span. The Regents extended their led to a game-high 13 points with 5:09 remaining before the Falcons began to mount a comeback. Concordia Wisconsin responded with a 13-1 run of its own over the next two and a half minutes to cut Rockford's led back down to a single point with 2:21 remaining in the half. The two schools went back-and-forth over the final two minutes before Zach Wallace scored the final three points of the half to give Rockford a 49-47 lead entering the intermission.
The second half had a similar feel to it as the Regents were once again able to jump back in front by double figures before the Falcons again closed the gap. Rockford opened the half with a 13-3 run to take a 62-50 advantage. Junior Jacob Siewert (Streamwood, Ill.) and senior Zach Wallace combined to score 11 of the 13 points with Siewert leading the way with 7 points. However, the Falcons slowly began chipping away at the Rockford lead until they tied the game at 81-81 off back-to-back made three-pointers. Concordia Wisconsin then briefly took an 82-81 lead following a made free throw with just 1:28 remaining in the game. Fortunately it was Rockford's Zach Wallace and Alonzo Mitchell IV (Rochester Hills, Mich.) who came up clutch down the stretch. Wallace converted a three-point play on layup and a made free as Rockford regained the lead for good with 1:09 left. Mitchell and Wallace then each knocked down a pair of free throws in the closing moments to seal an 88-82 win.
Senior Zach Wallace was unstoppable at both ends of the floor in Rockford's victory. The senior poured in a career-high 36 points on an impressive 16-of-20 shooting performance. He also added 13 rebounds and season-high 6 blocks for his team-leading fourth double-double of the season.
The Regents had four additional players crack double-figures in scoring on Tuesday. Freshman Ben Weber (South Beloit, Ill.) narrowly missed his first career double-double with 13 points, including draining a trio of three-pointers, and recording a career-high 9 assists. Fellow freshman Kivontay Shaw (Galesburg, Ill.) also narrowly missed his first career double-double with a season-high 12 points and a season-high 9 rebounds. Arthell Rosquist led the Rockford bench with 12 points, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 rebound, while Jacob Siewert turned in a nice all-around game with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The RU men's basketball team returns to the court on Thursday, December 8 at UW-Whitewater. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.
