ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University men's basketball team managed to hold off the Aurora University Spartans 86-81 at the Seaver Center on Tuesday night. Rockford shot 45% from three (11-for-24) to best the Spartans' 35.3% shooting from beyond the arc to help secure a close win.
Ashton Singleton and
Charles Burnell combined for six of those threes, each connecting on 75% of their three-point attempts.
- The first four minutes off the game turned into a back-and-forth battle as both sides worked the score to 4-4.
- Rockford then pulled away for the first time in the contest. Charles Burnell caught fire and dropped in four straight baskets, including a trio of three pointers to give the Regents a 15-6 lead.
- The Regents held Aurora at a distance for the next seven minutes of game-time, but the Spartans came charging back, mounting a 19-10 run to pull the game within one point at 40-39 at halftime. Noody Lacey and Micah Swanson had to score a layup and a dunk, respectively, to give the Regents back the lead before the break.
- A high percentage of shots kept falling for the Regents and Spartans to start the second half, including 100 percent of Aurora's attempts as the score reached 48-45 in favor of the Regents.
- It took until the 6:06 mark to finally separate the two sides. A late run by Rockford worked the score to 80-73 with 3:18 remaining in the game. Kevin Diemer contributed five of the 12 points during the run.
- Aurora was forced to start fouling despite finding the basket multiple times. This led to Mateo Fernandez Solari putting the game away with five clutch free throws at the end of the game to help Rockford hold on, securing the 86-81 win.
- Kevin Diemer recorded a team-high 23 points on 62.5 percent shooting with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
- Charles Burnell ended with 17 points on 63.6 percent shooting, including 75 percent from three. He also had 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
- Micah Swanson Hit 60 percent of his shots (6-of-10) to finish with 17 points. He also pulled down 6 rebounds, blocked a shot, and tallied 2 steals.
- Noody Lacey led the team in rebounds with 11. Lacey also had 9 points, a block, a steal, and an assist.
- Ashton Singleton also hit 75 percent from the three-point line, going 3-for-4 with 9 points.
