MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford University men's basketball team entered Saturday's road contest against the MSOE Raiders knowing it needed a win in order to have a chance to earn a berth in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament. The game remained within reach for much of the day until the Raiders ultimately began to pull away midway through the second half. MSOE capitalized on foul trouble for the Regents as the Rockford offense was never able to get on track. In the two meetings this season, the Raiders held the Regents to their two lowest scoring and two worst shooting performances of the year. On Saturday, Rockford shot just 33.9% from the floor as the Regents fell by a final score of 80-66.
It was a very low-scoring first half between the Regents and Raiders as the two schools combined to score just 59 points. Rockford's only lead of the game came in the opening moments when Michael Murray (Princeton, Ill.) and Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill.) made the game's first two baskets giving the Regents a quick 4-0 advantage. The Raiders would eventually tie the contest at 8-8 before going on a 16-5 run to take their largest lead of the half. Fortunately Rockford would respond with a 14-5 run of its own to pull back within 2 points. Zach Wallace led the charge scoring 6 of the 14 points as he connected on both of his shot attempts and went a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line. However, MSOE would then score the final 3 points of the half to take a 32-27 lead into the intermission.
Although Rockford was able to stay within striking distance for the majority of the second half, the Regents were never able to cut into the Raider lead. After MSOE pushed its lead back up to 10 points in the opening minutes of the period, senior John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky.) connected on back-to-back jumpers to pull his team to within 5 points. The MSOE lead remained around 5 points until the 10:04 mark when the Raiders began to take control of the game. It was at the point that MSOE went on an 11-2 run and essentially put the game away. Rockford was never able to get back within 10 points as MSOE cruised to an 80-66 victory and secured the sixth and final spot in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament.
Junior Zach Wallace had yet another solid performance for Rockford on Saturday. Wallace recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. He also blocked one shot and recorded one assist. Wallace finishes the season with 63 blocked shots, which is just two shy of tying the RU record for blocks in a season. He is also only 13 points away from 1,000 career points.
Senior Michael Murray was team's leading scorer on Saturday with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Murray also grabbed 6 rebounds.
Senior John O'Bryan and freshman Tony Diemer (Rockford, Ill.) each scored 10 points. O'Bryan also had 3 rebounds and 2 assists, while Diemer tallied 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
Seniors Ross Arteaga (Mendota, Ill.) and Kenny Parks (Mascoutah, Ill.) each scored 3 points off the bench. Arteaga added 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists, while Parks had 2 rebounds and 1 steal.
The RU men's basketball team concludes its season with a 13-12 overall record. The Regents went 9-11 in NACC play to finish tied for seventh in the conference.
