The Beloit College men's basketball team captured a thrilling 80-68 win over Rockford University Tuesday night in Flood Arena. The game saw each team build double figure leads only to have them slip away before the Buccaneers got on a roll to finish the game in exciting fashion. 

The first nearly eight minutes were dominated by Beloit as the Bucs jumped out to a 16-4 lead with 12:22 on the clock. Following a Regent timeout, Beloit maintained their advantage leading by as much as 13, 23-10, with just under 10 to play in the first half. Rockford picked up the pace with back-to-back fastbreak layups to open an 11-2 run that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to four, 25-21 with 8:09 on the clock. The gap hovered around five points for the next five minutes until the Regents put together an 8-0 to capture the first lead of the game, 33-31 with 1:40 remaining in the half. Michael Polakoski hit two free throws to knot the game before Rockford dropped in the final bucket of the half to take a 35-33 lead into halftime. 

The second half began much like the first except with the roles reversed. Rockford gradually added to their advantage leading by as much as 13, 55-42 with just over 14 minutes left in the game. That's when the Bucs started to heat up from long range and capitalize from the free throw line to whittle the deficit away. A couple of free throws were followed up by a three-pointer from Darin Empereur as the momentum slowly began to shift back into the favor of the Bucs. Rockford answered with a three but Keelin Norman-Klatt hushed the Regent fans knocking down a long range jumper off an assist from Andrew Walters to cut the gap to 58-51 with 10:40 left. The teams traded layups before Empereur found Polakoski in the corner for a three that hit nothing but the bottom of the net to pull Beloit to within four, 60-56, with 8:31 showing on the clock. 

Rockford held on to their lead as the five-minute mark passed on the game clock but the momentum was building for Beloit. That shift was palpable in the gym as the crowd got more in to the game until an eruption near the four-minute mark. One minute changed the landscape of the game for Beloit starting with another three from Empereur. Walters registered the assist and then came up with a steal on the defensive end and found Tristan Shoup on the fastbreak for a layup that gave Beloit the lead back, 67-66 with 4:11 left in the game. Empereur put the pressure on Rockford's point guard picking his pocket but was fouled before the Bucs could get out on the break. Regardless, the Beloit fans erupted in the stands and the Bucs were equally as fired up when the Regents called for the timeout. 

From that point, Beloit went on a 13-2 run bolstered by 7-8 shooting from the charity stripe to close out the game and seal the win. 

The free throw line was the difference-maker as the Bucs hit 23-29 in the game while Rockford had just nine opportunites from the stripe making six. Shoup led all players hammering away in the paint for 21 points adding eight rebounds. Empereur went 4-7 from beyond the arc and 7-8 from the free throw line to tally 19 points in the game. Walters hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds and added six assists and three steals. Caden Anderson was 4-6 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line for 12 points. 

Up Next: The Bucs return to the hardwood for their Midwest Conference opener Wednesday, December 4. Beloit will host Ripon College with the men tipping off at 5:30 followed by the women's game at 7:30 in Flood Arena.