ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University men's basketball team took care of Eureka College in a 79-76 thriller on Saturday night. It was a very tight contest in nearly all statistical categories, but the Regents pulled away with their points in the paint, outscoring the Red Devils 46-28. Rockford trailed Eureka by as much as 10 points in the second half but took the lead in the closing seconds and held on to win at the final buzzer. The Regents are now a perfect 3-0 to start their season and are one of three teams left with a perfect record in the NACC (Concordia Chicago, Lakeland).
- Rockford started the scoring with Kevin Diemer hitting his first and only three of the game.
- The Regents spent the next seven minutes slowly building a lead over the Red Devils, 21-12. Micah Swanson made big contributions with seven points during the run.
- After three-straight Eureka baskets, Rockford scored 7 in a row as well. Kevin Diemer hit a pair of layups and Vincent Eugene converted a three-point play to establish a 10-point lead at 28-18.
- RU got too comfortable however, and the lead completely disappeared after a 16-2 run over a six-minute span handed the lead over to Eureka with a score of 34-30.
- The lead didn't stand forever, the final 2:20 of the first half saw the Regents tie the game at 39 by the end of the period.
- It was a very lackluster second half start for Rockford, giving up a 12-2 run over the first five minutes and falling behind by 10 at 51-41.
- RU began to slowly trim the lead, trading baskets with Eureka to make the score 67-60 with 8 minutes remaining. Kevin Diemer led the scoring for Rockford with nine points.
- With time beginning to run out, Rockford needed a run to get them back into striking distance, and that's exactly what they got. RU took over the next four minutes, scoring seven points while allowing just two, cutting the lead to a single basket at 69-67.
- The Regents were in trouble again after two straight baskets for Eureka, but Charles Burnell took matters into his own hands with three-straight baskets, tying the game at 73-73.
- With a little more than a minute remaining, Eureka came out of a called time out and hit a three to separate the teams once again at 76-73.
- The Red Devils did not score again the rest of the game, but Micah Swanson pulled the game within one point on a layup with 37 seconds remaining.
- Eureka came back down the floor trying to run out some more clock, but a stellar steal by Charles Burnell led to a missed layup that was put back in by Vincent Eugene to give the Regents the go-ahead basket with 13 seconds left.
- Following a timeout, Eureka brought the ball down the floor and turned it over once more, this time Mateo Fernandez Solari getting the ball and taking it all the way back down for a layup to put Rockford up by 3.
- The Red Devils took one final shot before the buzzer to try and tie, but it hit off the backboard and rim before falling to the floor, giving Rockford the win and a 3-0 start to the season.
- Kevin Diemer led in points and offensive rebounds with 24 and 6, respectively. He had the team-high in shooting percentage as well at 64.3%.
- Micah Swanson just missed a double-double with 12 rebounds and 9 points.
- Vincent Eugene finished with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while adding 3 assists and a steal.
- Charles Burnell led the team in steals with 3, while also collecting 15 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist.
- Mateo Fernandez Solari dished out a team-high 6 assists. He had 3 rebounds and 2 steals as well.
