ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford men's basketball team began the new year with a tough task. The Concordia University of Wisconsin Falcons came into town to face the Regents. Concordia came into the game 3-3 in conference and a half game behind the Regents in the standings. Rockford was coming off of a close win against Clarke University on New Year's Eve. The Falcons came in hot with three straight wins.
Rockford began the game by forcing a turnover and David Dixon (Bellwood, Ill./St. Joseph) capitalized with a layup for the games first basket. The Falcons and the Regents would go back and forth for much of the first half. In the first seven minutes of the game there were 12 lead changes. A Dixon layup with 13:32 left in the half put the Regents up 20-17. Concordia would make two baskets in a row before Marlon Sykes (Chicago, Ill./John Marshall) hit a jump shot and John O'Bryan (Richmond, Ky./Madison Central) hit a three to put Rockford up four. Sykes would hit two free throws before Concordia would go on a 13-2 run to lead by five with 7:37 left in the half. Rockford would battle back and they were led by Scot Suchy (Genoa, Ill./Genoa-Kingston) who hit a jump shot then a three to tie the game up at 34. The Falcons would then go on another run, this time a 13-4 run, and they would lead 47-38 with 2:34 left. Rockford would go on an 8-4 run to end the half down 51-46. The Regents were led in the first half by Suchy who had 12 points on five of seven shooting. He also had two rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Dixon added in nine points on four of six shooting and Phil Andrade (South Chicago Heights, Ill./Bloom Trail) added in eight points and five rebounds. The Regents shot an outstanding 61% from the field and 44% from behind the line for the first half.
Dixon would dominate the beginning of the second half, scoring seven points in the first two and a half minutes to give the Regents a 55-54 lead. Much like the first half the lead would change many times. The lead would change nine times in the first 11 minutes of the second half. After Dixon hit a jump shot to take a 73-72 lead Zach Wallace (Rockford, Ill./Belvidere) made a layup to add to the Regents lead. Sykes would hit three free throws out of four to push the lead to four. Concordia and Rockford would go back and forth until the 3:28 mark when the Falcons took the lead and increased it to five with 2:09 left in the game. Rockford would battle back by forcing turnovers and making their shots. After a Dixon dunk Concordia hit two free throws, but Sykes made a layup and Dixon stole the ball and made a layup to bring the game to 91-90 Concordia. Sykes stole the ball with 19 seconds left and he was then fouled. He hit his second free throw to tie the game up at 91. Concorida then drove down the court and was fouled. They would make both of their free throws to go ahead by two with 1.6 seconds left in the game. On the inbound pass Rockford threw the ball into the middle of the Falcons lane and Wallace came down with it. He threw it up and the ball hit the back board, but just barely missed going in off of the bounce. The final score was 93-91 Concordia.
Dixon had a game high 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting. He also had nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Also in double digits were Andrade with 14, Sykes with 18, and Suchy with 17. Andrade added in seven rebounds. Sykes and Suchy both had four rebounds. Suchy had five assits and Sykes had seven. The Regents finished shooting 57% from the field, 50% from behind the line, and 60% from the line.
Rockford hits the court next on January 8th at home against Lakeland at 7 p.m. Three days later they travel to Marian and the start of the game is 2:00 p.m.
