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

  Official GLVC Release

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Mar. 5, 2013)-- The Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division champion University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team earned a near sweep of the GLVC major postseason awards on Tuesday with Luke Reigel earning Coach of the Year honors, Jeremy Saffold claiming Player of the Year while Andy Mazurczak was the Co-Freshman of the Year.

Head coach Luke Reigel secures GLVC Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Rangers (19-7, 14-4 GLVC) to the biggest single season turnaround in league history. UW-Parkside was selected to finish sixth in the preseason after compiling a 1-17 conference record in 2011-12. The Rangers 13-game turnaround is the biggest turnaround the league has seen since it was founded in 1978 and UWP became the first team to go from last place to first place in a span of one season. His team defeated seven ranked team's during the conference schedule while winning nine straight games to secure the program's first ever division title. Reigel is the first Ranger coach to claim GLVC Coach of the Year honors.

Jeremy Saffold is the league's Player of the Year, becoming the first Ranger to claim the award. The senior forward led the Rangers in scoring, averaging a GLVC-best 19.0 points per game while averaging 18.2 ppg during conference play. In GLVC action, Saffold ranked second in the league in scoring, 13th in rebounding (5.6 rpg) and ninth in blocks (16). The Hazel Crest, Ill. native finished in double figures in 23 of the Rangers' 26 games, including a pair of 30-point performances while tallying a double-double against McKendree University on Feb. 14, scoring 16 points with 10 boards.

Andy Mazurczak shares GLVC Freshman of the Year honors with Kentucky Wesleyan College's Lucas Barker. The freshman guard is just the second Ranger to tally the award and the first since Jordan Mach seized the honor during the 2010-2011 campaign. Mazurczak dished out a team-best 77 assists and 33 steals on the season while averaging 7.2 ppg. During conference play, the freshman averaged 7.7 ppg while doling out 2.9 assists per game, ranking 12th in the league. The Norridge, Ill. native finished in double figures in seven games during the season with five coming during GLVC play, including a 16-point outburst in the Rangers' 109-99 triple overtime victory over host Saint Joseph's College on Jan. 31.

The Rangers return to the hardwood on Thursday for the quarterfinals of the Deaconess GLVC Tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. Second-seeded UW-Parkside squares off against seventh-seeded Kentucky Wesleyan with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.