Jan. 4, 2017 – The first game of 2017 for the Concordia-Chicago men's basketball team saw them travel to Rockford University for the first of two meetings this season with the Regents. The Cougars caught the Regents on the wrong evening as Rockford shot the lights out en route to a 107-83 victory.

Israel Dosie scored on a runout to get the Cougars going, but the Regents scored the next five points to take early command. CUC's shooting was off-target, but Jarek Hotwagner's jumper from the foul line put CUC back in the lead at 10-9. However, Rockford's Ben Weber found the early hot hand. Weber hit a pair of threes, and his baseline jumper gave the hosts a 23-16 lead.

The Cougars got back into the chase with the threes. Justin Saar made his three on a layup and free throw while Mike Walmer and Mitch Pelissier connected on the long-range triples. Concordia-Chicago pulled within three, but then it was Rockford's Tony Diemer that heated up. Diemer scored eight of RU's next nine points and later scored on a layup that gave Rockford a 44-33 lead. The sophomore finished the half with 20 points as Rockford led Concordia-Chicago 58-43.

The Regents shot 21-37 for the half including a torrid 8-13 (.615) from the outside. Diemer was 8-11 from the field, hitting his only three attempt while Weber led the three-point assault with three triples. Hotwagner led CUC with 12 points while Saar shot 4-6 for a nine-point half, but the Cougars shot just 17-37 (.459) overall and 3-13 (.231) from the outside.

The second half got no better for the Cougars. Rockford led by 14 early in the half when a 12-4 run spurred by Trae Blumhorst bumped the lead up to 74-52. Ben Wallace also came on in the second half. The 6-8 center was limited to four first-half points due to foul trouble, but he scored 14 after halftime to help Rockford pull away. 

Rockford shot 54 percent for the second half and finished the game with 40-72 for 54 percent, The Regents' three-point shooting slipped to 4-12 in the second half but still finished at 48 percent (12-25). Meanwhile, CUC shot just 34 percent on 14-41 in the second half and finished at 40 percent (31-78) for the game. The Cougars were a little better with threes, going 4-12 and ending up with 32 percent on 8-25. The Regents also claimed a huge advantage on the boards at 57-30.

Hotwagner scored a career-high 22 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. Pelissier also made double figures with 10 points and added four assists and five steals.

Concordia-Chicago (2-8, 1-6 NACC) will look to reverse their fortunes on Saturday when they return to Geiseman Gymnasium to host Marian University. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. or 30 minutes after the women's game concludes.