Box Score Leading 57-45 with just over 12 minutes to play in the second half, the Dominican University men's basketball team watched their 12-point lead disappear as they came up on the short side of a 72-70 game against the Rockford College Regents to open Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) on Tuesday night.

After Taylor DeRoo (Holland, Mich.) knocked down a baseline jumper for Dominican to force a Rockford timeout with 9:12 to play, the Regents responded with a 19-7 run over the next six-plus minutes to take a 64-62 lead. Grant Olsen scored eight of his 18 on the Rockford run.

The Regents' lead grew to 71-66 in the final minute before a three from Josh Ward (Burr Ridge, Ill.) cut the deficit to 71-69 for Dominican. After Taylor Dixon knocked down the front end of a one-and-one, the Stars' Anthony Keener (Carol Stream, Ill.) was fouled hoisting a desperation three from near half court with 0:03.5 remaining. After making the first of three free throws, Keener missed the second before intentionally missing the third with Dominican trailing 72-70. A jump ball on the rebound gave the ball to Rockford with 0:01.7 left in the game and Dominican was not able to get the ball back.

Olsen and Scott Suchy led four in double-figures for the Regents, sharing game-high honors with 18 points apiece. Sam Chones chipped in 16 and Taylor Dixon added 14 as Rockford shot 29-for-54 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free throw line.

Keener paced the Stars with 16 points in the losing effort, but was just 5-for-9 from the foul line. Ward added a season-high 15 points while Kyle Sherwin (White Lake, Mich.) and DeRoo scored 12 apiece. Dominican shot just a shade under 53-percent from the field (27-for-51) but converted on just 7-for-13 trips to the foul line.

The loss drops the Stars to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference play. Dominican returns to action on Saturday, hosting the Marian University Sabres for a 4:15 p.m. tipoff in the Igini Sports Forum.