AURORA, Ill. - The Rockford University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought NACC game 85-79 on Tuesday night at Aurora University. The game went back and forth for much of the evening, with Rockford leading for a large chunk of the second half. However, it was a 13-5 Aurora run in the closing minutes that propelled the Spartans to victory. Statistically it was a bit of an odd night, as Rockford took 28 more shots than Aurora, including making six more shots than the Spartans. Unfortunately, the game was ultimately decided at the free throw line, where Aurora had a commanding advantage. Aurora went 32-38 at the charity stripe, while Rockford went 13-20, leading to a +19 point differential for the Spartans. The loss snaps Rockford's three-game winning streak against Aurora.
- After a quick start by Aurora, Rockford took its first lead at 8-7 off a Vincent Eugene jumper at the 14:45 mark.
- With Rockford still leading by one after a Zac Centers triple, the Spartans went on a 13-0 run to take the largest lead of the night for either team at 23-11.
- Following a Regent timeout, Rockford scored the next 13 points to retake the lead at 24-23. Four different Regents found the bottom of the net over that span, led by five straight points from Zac Centers to cap off the run.
- The game continued to swing back and forth with Aurora holding a one-point lead with three seconds left in the half.
- However, Rockford's Ashton Singleton connected on a long three as time expired, to give the Regents a 42-40 advantage heading into the break.
- The Regents were able to slowly build their lead up to as many as six points off a 6-1 run midway through the second half. Mateo Fernandez Solari and Ashton Singleton bookended the run with a pair of jumpers to give Rockford a 54-48 lead.
- As has been the case all game long, Aurora answered the Rockford run with one of its own. The Spartans promptly scored the next nine points to jump back in front 57-54 with 9:29 left in the game.
- Rockford was able to fight back and tie the game on three separate occasions, with the final one coming on a Micah Swanson layup at the 4:02 mark.
- Unfortunately, the Spartans scored nine of the next eleven points to take a commanding 76-69 advantage with just 1:40 remaining.
- Rockford was unable to get any closer than four the rest of the way, as Aurora went 7-8 at the free throw line and made its lone shot attempt en route to the 85-79 win.
- Zac Centers tied his career-high with 18 points on an impressive 5-of-8 shooting performance. Centers knocked down a trifecta of three-pointers and went a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line. He also finished with 6 rebounds, a career-high 4 steals and 1 assist.
- Micah Swanson tallied his second double-double of the season. He finished with 12 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and 1 block.
- Charles Burnell had 12 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
- Amareon Parker added 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist in his first appearance of the season.
