Falcons Tripped up at Rockford

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Regents defended their home court on Wednesday in a key battle for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament. The Regents secured the 79-66 victory to block the Falcons' chances of hosting a quarterfinal matchup and send Concordia to 10-14 and 9-8 in the NACC.

The Falcons struck first on Wednesday with a layup from senior Freeman Jackson (Green Bay, Wis.) but that turned out to be the only lead of the evening for the Falcons.

The Purple and White lifted the lead to 26-15 with a layup with 8:39 remaining in the half.

The Falcons fought back with a 9-2 run to chop the Rockford lead to 28-24. The rally was led by senior Gabe Pruss (North Fond du Lac, Wis.) with four points and a three-point basket from Adam Bruins to cap off the run.

The Regents rallied at the end of the half and took a 44-30 lead into halftime.

The Blue and White showed grit to start the second half and had a 14-4 run in the first five minutes. All 14 of the 14 points came from the senior class with Zech Hans (Hartland, Wis.) with seven, Gabe Pruss with five and Samuel Meerstein (Green Bay, Wis.) with two points.

The Falcons fought hard throughout the second half and trimmed the deficit to six points on another occasion, but the Regents were able to rumble away.

Gabe Pruss led the Concordia attack with 17 points and seven rebounds.

The loss puts the Falcons in either the fifth or sixth seed in the NACC Tournament depending on Saturday's outcomes.

The Falcons close the regular season at home for the final home contest of the year on Saturday. CUW will honor its senior class before the contest against Benedictine.