Rockford men set to host NCAA D-III postseason game, while women need help to get in
The Rockford University men's basketball team is still rolling, and with its seventh win in a row on Valentine's Day it clinched a top-four seed and will host a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference postseason tournament game next Tuesday.
This is the fourth consecutive postseason tourney bid for the Rockford men, and they have made it five out of the past six years. But the last time the Regents hosted a conference-tourney game was in 2021, which was also the last time they won a postseason game.
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"This team is special," said the Regents' leading scorer (18.6 points per game) and rebounder (6.6 rebounds) Kevin Diemer, the former Boylan standout. "And now is when we can really show it."
If Benedictine (14-0, 11-6 NACC) loses and Rockford (17-7, 11-6) wins in Saturday's regular-season finale, the Regents will get the third seed. But either way, Rockford will host the eight-team NACC tourney opener at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
A Rockford win in its first game of the postseason could get it a matchup with the No. 1 seed on the road next Thursday in the semis. The championship game is Feb. 24, at the higher seed's home.
St. Norbert and Wisconsin Lutheran are both 20-4 overall and 15-2 in NACC play and are battling for the top spot in the league headed into the final weekend of the regular season.
The winner of the conference tournament then earns an automatic NCAA Division III Tournament bid. Rockford hasn't made it into the NCAA D-III postseason tourney for 21 years.
It may help that both the Rockford men and women play the last place teams in the conference on Saturday. But the women need some serious help.
The Regent women are a game behind Lakeland (9-15, 7-8 NACC) for the eighth and final conference-tourney spot. If Lakeland wins Saturday, Rockford (10-14, 6-9) is out. But if the Regents win and Lakeland loses, Rockford will get the eighth seed and will slip in. The Rockford women are at lowly Dominican (1-23, 0-15) at 1 p.m. Saturday, but Lakeland is hosting Benedictine (8-16, 8-7).
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford University men's basketball to host home NACC tournament game
