MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford University men's basketball team (9-4, 3-3 NACC) dropped a heartbreaker 86-82 on the road Saturday afternoon to the Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors (9-3, 4-2 NACC). Rockford trailed for the majority of the game despite shooting the ball incredibly well throughout. The Regents had their second-best shooting performance of the season, going 33-of-59, to shoot a blistering 55.9% from the floor. Conversely, the Warriors shot just 43.6%, making 24 of their 55 shot attempts. However, the difference in the game came at the free throw line. Rockford was very efficient at the charity stripe, making eight of its 11 attempts; however, Wisconsin Lutheran attempted a mind-boggling 35 free throws and made 29 of them, to give the Warriors a 21-point advantage at the free throw line. Rockford's Micah Swanson put forth the top stat line of any player in the game. Swanson finished with a game-high 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and had a game-high 7 rebounds. 

• Wisconsin Lutheran jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. 
• Rockford would respond with a 6-2 run, courtesy of back-to-back threes from Jose Trinidad and Brandon Emerick, to pull Rockford within five at 11-6. 
• With the Warriors now leading by nine and 12:42 left in the first half, the Regents scored nine straight points to knot the game at 21-21. Micah Swanson led the charge with seven points, while Jaden Bell chipped in the other two. 
• The two schools continued to go back-and-forth until the 4:14 mark, when TJ Lacey connected on layup to give Rockford its first lead of the game at 35-33. 
• The Regents would build their lead up to as many as five points at 41-36, following layups from TJ Lacey, DJ Bonds and Micah Swanson. 
• However, WLC outscored Rockford 6-3 to close the half, as the Regents entered the break with a 44-42 advantage. 
• Wisconsin Lutheran then began the second half with an 8-2 run, to retake the lead at 50-46. 
• Fortunately, Rockford's Zac Centers caught fire over the next few minutes. Centers scored eight straight points for the Regents, including draining a pair of triples, the second of which tied the game at 54-54.
• Unfortunately, Rockford was never quite able to get over the hump and regain the lead. Each time the Regents would either tie the game or make it a one-possession game, the Warriors would respond. 
• With the Regents now trailing by three at 71-68 and 7:09 remaining, Wisconsin Lutheran scored the next nine points to take their largest lead of the game with only 3:15 left in regulation. 
• However, Rockford showed no signs of surrender. The Regents were able to chip away at the deficit with an 11-3 run over the next two and a half minutes, capped off by a Brandon Emerick triple, to make it just a four-point game with thirty seconds left. TJ Lacey was the leading scorer over that span with four points, while Micah Swanson and Vincent Eugene each added two.
• Following a few free throws, Vincent Eugene connected on a layup with four seconds left to pull Rockford back within three. 
• Unfortunately, the Warriors were able to convert on one of their two free throws to seal the 86-82 win.

• Micah Swanson led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and had a game-high 7 rebounds. 
• TJ Lacey added 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. 
• Brandon Emerick finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. 
• Zac Centers had 11 points.

The RU men's basketball team returns to the court on Wednesday, January 12 at Marian University. Tip-off is set for 7 PM.