ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford men's basketball team (6-1, 1-0 NACC) earned a hard-fought victory against Marian University (3-2, 0-1 NACC) 90-79 on Wednesday night. Despite the difference of eleven points in the final score, it was a close contest throughout the entire game. Marian played very scrappy basketball, leading in second chance points and points off turnovers; not to mention two starters accounted for 50 of the team's 79 points. Rockford, however was able to count on its bench once again, along with a solid 20-point difference in points in the paint. 

• Marian didn't miss a shot for the first minute and a half of the first half, taking an early but slim lead 9-7 thanks to four points by TJ Lacey and a three-pointer by Brandon Emerick.
• Marian extended its lead to 21-15 with 12 minutes left in the half, the Sabre's Barnstable responsible for 10 of those points.
• Rockford kept the game within four points for the next seven minutes until Brandon Emerick hit another three-point shot to tie the game for the first time. Charles Burnell hit a layup shortly after to give the Regents their first lead of the game.
• The half ended after each side put up six more points to bring the score to 43-42, the Regents in the lead.
• Rockford came out of the half holding Marian without a basket for the first two minutes of play, putting up five points on offense to make the score 48-41.
• After both sides combined for four points over the next two minutes and thirty seconds, the teams traded streaks of baskets for the remaining fourteen minutes of the half, eight different Regents contributed points over the entire half, shooting a remarkable 65 percent from the field, including 50 percent from the three-point line.
• The Regents lost the lead only once for the remainder of the game for a short time, but then never looked back, going on an eleven-point run to take a 79-70 lead that they held onto for the rest of the game, winning eventually by eleven points when the final horn sounded, 90-79

• Micah Swanson led the way in scoring with 17 points, he also tied the team-high in rebounds with 7, and he recorded an assist.
• TJ Lacey had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block.
• Jaden Bell and DJ Bonds led the team in assists with 4. Bell was also the other half of the team-high in rebounds with 7, and he scored 9 points.

 
The RU men's basketball team is back at home on Saturday, December 4 against Concordia University Wisconsin. Tip-off is set for 4:15 PM in the Seaver Center.