ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The men’s basketball game at Fontbonne University started out like most great wins do—by appearing as though it had the chance to be a loss. Fontbonne got off to an early start, running the score up to 8 before Rockford responded. The response was slow in coming, though, and Fontbonne led by as much as 12 before the Regents really got warmed up on the scoreboard. The Regents had an unanswered 10 points to close the lead to 2. Within a couple minutes, the game reached its first tie and then, with 7:25 on the clock in the first half, the Regents had their first lead of the game in the middle of an 8-point streak. The scoring went back-and-forth until the Griffins finally wrestled back the lead with about 1:42 left on the clock.
The second half started out with a good omen as Jacob Dunkel (South Beloit, IL/South Beloit) blocked the Griffins’ first shot of the half. The Regents kept the Griffins’ lead to 5 or less until they got a good hold on the lead around the 10-minute mark. They kept that lead until the end of the game, leading by as much as 8 before finishing the game on top, 86-81.
Maurice Smith (Loves Park, IL/Harlem) led the Regents with 33 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Jacob Dunkel, who had 25 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Smith was 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.
