AURORA, Ill. - The Rockford University men's basketball team fell 102-90 on the road to the Aurora University Spartans in a Wednesday night NACC meeting. The game was a battle to start, with 6 ties and 10 lead changes in just the first half, but the Spartans eventually held a slight 45-42 lead at the half. Unfortunately, the second half was a different story, as Aurora quickly took control and never relinquished the lead. The biggest discrepancy in the game came from the free throw line. Aurora took an insane 18 more free throw attempts than Rockford and made 18 more free throws than the Regents as well. This ultimately allowed the Spartans to stay in control and eventually close out for the 102-90 win.
- Rockford and Aurora traded buckets over the first four minutes of the game to open the contest at 9-9.
- The Regents and Spartans continued to battle, until Matthew Elliott knocked down a triple to give Rockford its first lead of the night at 14-13, but five lead changes over the next 2 minutes and 25 seconds followed by a Spartan triple gave Aurora the 22-18 lead.
- Rockford responded with 8 straight points, capped off by a Mathew Elliott three-pointer to give the Regents their largest lead of the night at 25-22.
- However, the Spartans responded with a 16-6 run over the next 4 minutes and 33 seconds to take a 38-31 lead.
- The Regents did battle back with seven straight points to tie the game back up at 38-38, but the Spartans were able to maintain control and hold a 45-42 lead going into the break.
- The Spartans opened the second half with a 15-8 run that gave them the first double-digit lead of the night at 60-50.
- Aurora maintained its double-digit lead over the next 8 minutes and 50 seconds, eventually holding their largest lead of the night at 86-67 with 6 minutes and 42 seconds left in regulation.
- Rockford was able to battle back to within nine with 51 seconds left, but this was as close as the Regents would get as Aurora was able to close out and win by a final score of 102-90.
- Anthony Espensen provided a game-high 20 points, on an impressive 8-11 (72.7%) shooting, including 3-4 (75%) from beyond the arc. He also picked up 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
- Micah Swanson delivered his 13th straight game with double-digit points with 19 points on 8-12 (66.7%) shooting with 6 rebounds and 2 assists.
- DeVon Oregon tallied 14 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.
