FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 20, 2013)-- The 13th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team looks to wrap up its first Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division title in program history this week, facing Saint Joseph's College on Thursday to close out the regular season home schedule before hitting the road and squaring off against the University of Indianapolis on Saturday.

The Rangers hope to hear “Ring of Fire” blaring from the rafters one more time on Thursday, welcoming the Pumas to DeSimone Gymnasium for Senior Night with tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m. UW-Parkside hits the road on Saturday, facing UIndy at 2:15 p.m. Live stats, video and audio will be available for both games. Steve Kratochvil will be providing play-by-play for both games with Jim Kramer providing color commentary on the audio feed available online and on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (18-5, 13-2 GLVC) is riding an eight-game win streak and can shore up its first ever GLVC East Division title with one more victory as the Rangers hold a two-game lead in the standings with three games to play. UWP owns a two-game lead and the tiebreaker on second place University of Southern Indiana (18-5, 11-4 GLVC), having swept the Screaming Eagles this season while third place Bellarmine University (18-5, 10-5 GLVC) still has a remote chance at the title but must win all three of its remaining games and bank on UW-Parkside dropping three in a row.

The Rangers tallied a pair of wins last week, downing McKendree University 76-63 on Feb. 14 in the Bearcats first ever visit to DeSimone Gymnasium before edging No. 13 Bellarmine University 74-72 on Saturday.

Against McKendree, the Rangers utilized a balanced scoring attack and controlled the paint en route to the 13-point decision. Five Rangers ended the night in double figures with Jeremy Saffold leading the way with his first double-double of the season, scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds. Conrad Krutwig added 13 points while Zygimantas Riauka, Colt Grandstaff and Andy Mazurczak added 12, 12, and 10 points, respectively. UWP owned a 46-18 edge in points in the paint including a 22-2 edge in the opening half of play.

On Saturday against the 13th-ranked Knights, the Rangers led wire-to-wire and surged out to a 17-point advantage but needed a Saffold block as time expired to secure the two-point win, the Rangers seventh victory this season against a Top 25 opponent.

Saffold collected 18 points at the half and finished the game with 27 points, hitting 10 of his 13 shots from the field, including five three-pointers. Krutwig added 21 points while Bryant Smith distributed nine assists.

On the season, Saffold continues to pace the Rangers offensively with 18.5 points per game while grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game. Riauka adds 12.2 ppg and a team-high 6.1 rpg with Krutwig chipping in 11.5 ppg. Grandstaff continues to be a scoring threat off the bench, contributing 10.7 ppg while hitting 40.3 percent from three-point range.

Feb. 21 vs. Saint Joseph's College at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Pumas have met 35 times on the basketball court with St. Joseph's owning a 23-12 edge in the all-time series.

Last Meeting: UW-Parkside needed triple overtime to outlast the host Pumas, emerging from Alumni Fieldhouse on Jan. 31 with a 109-99 victory. The Rangers led by as many as 16 points in the wild game that featured six lead changes and six ties. Host SJC was red hot from the perimeter, sinking 14 threes on the night and shooting 58.3 percent from behind the line.

About the Pumas: St. Joseph's (6-16, 4-11 GLVC) sits in seventh place in the eight-team East Division and has lost three straight and five of its last six. The Pumas fell 75-67 to Kentucky Wesleyan College on Feb. 14 before getting overwhelmed 73-58 at home against then No. 23 USI on Saturday.

The Pumas led 51-50 with 8:46 remaining in the game against the nationally-ranked Screaming Eagles on Saturday inside Alumni Fieldhouse before USI closed the contest on a 23-7 run to foil SJC's upset bid.

Dayvon Sloan is the Pumas leading scorer, averaging 14.8 ppg while Damon Ellison Jr. and Corey Clifton chip in 13.5 and 10.0 ppg, respectively. Jon Smith is SJC's leading rebounder, grabbing 6.1 rpg while adding 7.0 ppg on the offensive end.

Feb. 23 vs. University of Indianapolis at Nicoson Hall (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: UW-Parkside and UIndy have squared off 34 times with the Greyhounds owning a 22-12 edge in the all-time series.

Last Meeting: The Rangers knocked off then No. 15 UIndy 77-71 on Feb. 2 inside DeSimone Gymnasium on Alumni Day. UW-Parkside used a 9-0 run with five minutes left to turn a one point lead into a 10-point cushion to earn the victory in a see-saw game that featured 11 lead changes and two ties.

About the Greyhounds: UIndy (17-6, 9-6 GLVC) heads into Thursday against Lewis University looking to snap a two-game slide after dropping a pair of home games last week. The Greyhounds were bested 87-62 on Feb. 14 against then No. 23 Southern Indiana before suffering a 74-73 setback on Saturday to Kentucky Wesleyan.

Against KWC, the visiting Panthers led by 21 points with 15 minutes left in the game before the host Greyhounds mounted a 36-14 run to grab a 64-63 lead with just over five minutes to go. KWC's James Herzog provided the winning point for Kentucky Wesleyan hitting the second of his two free throws with 0.5 seconds left to break a tie and send UIndy its sixth defeat of the conference season.

Three players average in double figures with Reece Cheatham heading the pack with 15.6 ppg. James Hollowell adds 13.8 ppg and 5.6 rpg while Leland Brown chips in 11.9 ppg.

The Greyhounds rank 16th nationally in assist to turnover ratio (1.26) as a team while ranking 20th in both scoring margin (+10.8) and field goal percentage (49.1 percent). UIndy additionally is ranked 23rd in the nation in turnover margin at + 3.7.

National Rankings: UW-Parkside is ranked in the top 25 nationally in six statistical categories and is among the top 50 in 10 categories. The Rangers ranked eighth (out of 286 teams) in field goal percentage, hitting 49.9 percent while sitting 12th in assist to turnover ratio (1.33), 13th in personal fouls per game (14.7), 18th in turnovers per game (11.4),  20th in turnover margin (+3.9) and 24th in won-loss percentage (78.3 percent). UWP sits 27th in scoring margin (+10.3), 31st in free throw percentage (74.8 percent), 45th in assists per game (15.3) and 49th in scoring offense (77.2 ppg).

Individually, Bryant Smith is 12th in assist to turnover ratio at 2.61 while Andy Mazurczak ranks 21st at 2.46. Jeremy Saffold is the only other individual to register in the top 50, ranking 45th in scoring at 18.5 ppg.

Turnaround: UW-Parkside's turnaround from a year ago is officially the biggest single season improvement since the GLVC was formed in 1978. The Rangers were 1-17 in conference play in 2011-12 and now stand at 13-2, a 12-game improvement. The biggest turnaround prior to this season was Southern Indiana as the Screaming Eagles went from 4-14 in 1991-92 to 14-4 in 1992-93. If the Rangers secure the divisional title they will be the first team to go from last place to first in one season in league history. University of Illinois Springfield is the closest team to have done so in the past, finishing in second place in 2011-12 with a 12-6 record after finishing 4-14 in 2010-11.  

Record Book Watch: Jeremy Saffold sits in eighth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,463 points. The senior is 22 points shy of Reggie Anderson (1977-81) in seventh place. Saffold is five rebounds shy of 500 for his career and 31 shy of cracking the top 10. Mark Zukley (1990-1994) currently occupies the No. 10 position on the all-time rebounding list with 527 boards. Saffold sits ninth in field goals made with 492 and is three three-pointers away from tying Rod Whitter (1986-90) for 10th on the all-time list for three-point field goals made with 136.

GLVC in the Top 25: UW-Parkside is ranked in the top 15 for the first time in program history, checking in at No. 13 while three other conference schools appear in the poll. GLVC West Division champion Drury University is No. 11 followed by Bellarmine at No. 15 and Southern Indiana at No. 16. UIndy and Kentucky Wesleyan both appear in the others' receiving votes section.

Tournament Time: The 2013 Deaconess GLVC Tournament will be held March 7-10 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (800) 745-3000, or through the Ford Center box office at (812) 422-1515.

All-Tournament passes are $35, while Session Flex Passes are $25, allowing you access to any two of the first six sessions, excluding Sunday's finals.  Single-session tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students with a valid ID, while children aged six and under are admitted free of charge.

The 2013 Deaconess GLVC Men's and Women's Basketball Championship Tournaments will feature 16 seeded teams, including eight men's and eight women's squads that will have earned an invitation following first-round matchups on their respective campuses.  On Thursday, March 7, the men's quarterfinals will take place with four games at noon, 2:30 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. CT.  Friday's action will feature the four women's quarterfinal contests at the same times.  Both the men's and the women's semifinals will commence on Saturday, March 9, as the men take to the court at noon and 2:30 p.m., followed by the women at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.  The men's GLVC Champion will be crowned on Sunday, March 10, at noon, followed by the women's final at 2:30 p.m.