ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University men's basketball team took a tough 78-72 loss against Benedictine University in a Wednesday night NACC showdown. Benedictine shot the ball proficiently from the field, edging out Rockford 49.1% - 33.3% and from three-point range taking a 30.8% - 17.2% advantage. The Regents were able to edge out the Eagles in second chance points with a 17-9 advantage, which allowed them to stay close and even in the lead despite the skewed shooting numbers. Rockford was also able to get to the line 19 times in just the first half to just 12 for Benedictine and this also allowed the Regents to stay in it. Defensively, the Regents were able to force 14 turnovers, but only converted those into 11 points and the Eagles forced just 9 turnovers and turned those into just 7 points. The Regents struggled in overtime with a 18% performance from the field and the Eagles were able to swoop in a take the 78-72 win.
- Benedictine got out to an 8-3 lead with 17:09 left in the first half.
- The Eagles were able to find their way to a slight 14-13 lead, after Seth Childers cut the score to one with a layup and then Matthew Elliott gave Rockford the lead with 3 free throws to make it a 16-14 game.
- The Regents went on a slight 11-6 run, capped off by a layup from Kevin Diemer to give the Regents a 7-point 27-20 lead with 5:20 left in the first half.
- Each team battled back and forth and the Regents were able to find their way to a slight 40-36 advantage going into the half.
- The Eagles and Regents continued to trade buckets on each side of the floor until the Eagles were able to go on a 10-5 run and take the lead 46-45 after a layup with 14:06 left in the game.
- The Regents quickly retained the lead with 4 straight points from Mateo Fernandez Solari to take a 49-46 lead.
- Each team went back to trading points, until Rockford was able to take a 4-point 66-62 lead after a layup from Jaden Bell with 2:22 left.
- The Eagles were able to come back in the game, getting to the line 4 times in the last 2 minutes to tie the game 66-66 and force overtime.
- The Regents took the quick 68-66 lead to start overtime.
- Benedictine stormed out in front a took a 74-70 lead with just 30 seconds left and they never looked back and were able to hold off the Regents to take 78-72 win.
- Mateo Fernandez Solari had a season-high 19 points, also grabbed 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
- Jaden Bell had 18 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal.
