The Dominican University men's basketball team suffered a 90-84 overtime setback on Saturday afternoon at the Seaver Center in Rockford, Illinois, at the hands of the Rockford University Regents.
The Stars, who fell to the Regents on a last second shot at home back on November 30, held a nine-point, 72-63, lead in the final three minutes of regulation before Rockford closed the half on a 10-1 run, including a game-tying three by Brandon Emerick with four seconds remaining to force overtime. Rockford then scored eight of the first nine points in overtime, opening an 81-74 lead with 3:39 to go and never trailed again. The Stars managed to cut the lead down to four on two separate occasions but Rockford sealed the win, going 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute of the overtime period.
"Tough loss," commented
Mark White, the Stars' head coach, following the loss. "We played hard and competed, but we just didn't have the mental focus necessary to win a conference road game. Twenty-six turnovers and allowing 17 offensive rebounds negated an otherwise solid overall effort."
Jackson Smith paced the Stars in scoring for the sixth straight game, dropping in a team-high 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting and converting on all three trips to the foul line.
Tyler Guest and
Luke McDermott added 16 apiece while
KJ Redfield rounded out four in double-figures with 11 points on 5-or-7 shooting.
As a team, Dominican shot better than fifty-percent from the field, going 32-for-60, and converted on ten of 29 attempts from three, going 7-for-15 in the second half. However, the Stars committed 26 turnovers, leading to 24 points for the Regents, and lost the battle on the glass, 42-31, including giving up 17 offensive rebounds which led to 18 second chance points for Rockford.
For Rockford, Emerick led the way, scoring 20 of his 28 after halftime, leading three in double-figures. Nathaniel Shead added 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting while Ashton Singleton finished with 11 points.
Dominican, now 8-7 overall and 4-6 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, taking on the Edgewood College Eagles at the Edgedome. Tipoff in that one is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
