November 16, 2021 | by Taylor Pill

LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The red-hot Rockford Regents shot their way to a big win tonight, taking a 96-68 win to deny the Sabercats a winning home opener.

Malachi Herbster hit a career-high 13 points while Josh Davis led Maranatha with 15. Rockford showcased their depth, scoring 48 bench points on the night.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 68-96 Rockford
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 195
• Records: MBU (0-5), RU (3-1)

STORY

The Regents had the hot start but the Sabercats worked themselves back into the game with a big and energetic crowd behind them. Mike Mertes hit a three to cut the Rockford lead down to seven, and Caleb Moultrie connected his second three of the half to make it a four-point game with four minutes remaining. But a couple of late turnovers made key differences in the momentum and possession, as the Sabercats saw Rockford slip away to go into halftime with a 17-point lead.

One difference in the first half was Rockford's relative depth, as they had nine student-athletes put up points while limiting Maranatha to just five.

It took the Sabercats over three minutes to put points up in the second half, as Rockford showed no signs of slowing down at the other end of the court. The Regents kept finding the open looks as they shot their way to a 30-point lead at 13:38 on the clock and never looked back, shooting just below the 50-percent mark. The Regents bench accounted for half their points on the night, and starter DJ Bonds led the scoring with 17 points on the night.

"Tonight was a disappointing night - we had an opportunity to match up well against Rockford," said Coach Joel Borchardt. "But we just didn't play to our potential yet again. We did see some things that were an improvement from our last game, which was encouraging, but we still have work to do in order to put a full 40 minutes together. It hurt not to have Jed [Mayhak] or Ethan [Cooper] on the court with us, but we don't want to make excuses - we want to step up to challenges and things that make us better because we'll have to do those things as men in Christian families and Christian workplaces. Coach [Jeremy] Reigle prepared his team very well tonight, and we just had a tough time keeping up with them. We're hoping to come back Thursday and compete better and look to improve every day and be ready when the postseason comes."

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Maranatha Starters: 5- Sanders, 13- Caldwell, 15- Davis, 21- Moultrie, 24- Herbster // Rockford starters: 0- Bell, 1- Emerick, 2- Swanson, 3- Lacey, 10- Bonds

STATS

• Davis: 15 PTS, 8 REB
• Herbster: Career-high 13 PTS, 2 REB
• Caleb Moultrie: 12 PTS, 2 REB
• RU: 48.6 FG%
• Last time: Rockford defeated Maranatha 77-68 on November 14, 2019 
• Series: Rockford leads the all-time series 10-1

OPPONENTS

• Rockford competes in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NCAA DIII)
• Rockford went 9-5 in the shortened 2020-2021 season, finishing runner-up in the NACC for the first time ever
• Rockford entered the contest against Maranatha with a 2-1 record with wins against Earlham and Beloit

NEXT

The Sabercats continue the homestand on Thursday against Dominican at 7:00 p.m. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.