HOLLAND, Mich. - The Rockford University men's basketball team fell 97-83 on the road Saturday afternoon to the Hope College Flying Dutchmen. Saturday marked the second consecutive day the Regents played a team that was both receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Preseason Poll and coming off a 22-win season last year. Rockford played toe-to-toe with the Fighting Dutchmen into the second half, but Hope used a 21-2 run midway through the period to take a commanding 72-57 lead that they would not relinquish. The game really just boiled down to the shooting performances by both teams. Hope attempted nine more shots than Rockford and shot 52.9% from the floor and 48.4% from three-point range, compared to 42.0% and 36.4% for the Regents.
- Hope opened the game on a 14-2 run over the first 3:27 to take a 12-point lead in the early moments.
- The Flying Dutchmen extended their lead to as many as 17 points (27-10), before Rockford began to slowly chip away.
- The Regents cut the deficit back down to ten on several occasions, with the latest coming with 3:26 left before the half.
- Rockford then closed the half on a 13-3 run to send the game into the break tied at 42-42. Ethan Ackerman scored nine of the thirteen points, all of which were three-pointers, including draining a triple in the closing seconds of the first half.
- The Regents continued to build upon their momentum early in the second half. Vincent Eugene scored the first five points of the period to give Rockford its largest lead of the game at 47-42.
- With Rockford now leading 55-51 and 14:01 left in the game, Hope went on a 21-2 run over the next 3:29 to take a 72-57 advantage. The Flying Dutchmen went an incredible 8-of-9 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from three-point distance over that stretch.
- Hope would extend its lead to as many as 21 points, before ultimately winning by a final score of 97-83.
- Mateo Fernandez Solari finished with a team and season-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He also added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
- Ethan Ackerman poured in 15 points on an impressive 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range. He also chipped in 3 rebounds.
- Kevin Diemer recorded his second double-double of the season. He finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.
- Vincent Eugene added 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist.
