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

NCAA Division II Tournament Bracket

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 8, 2015)-- The three-time Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Champion University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad will be heading to Louisville, Kentucky, as the Midwest Region's second seed after the NCAA selection committee unveiled the 64-team field for the NCAA Division II Tournament on Sunday night.

The eighth-ranked Rangers will battle GLVC East Division nemesis and seventh-seed Lewis University in the opening round at Bellarmine University's Knights Hall on Saturday. UW-Parkside bested Lewis in both regular season encounters, outlasting the Flyers 69-65 on Jan. 19 in Romeoville, Illinois, while staking a claim to its third straight GLVC East crown with a 73-68 win on Feb. 26 inside DeSimone Gymnasium to conclude the regular season. Game time is yet to be determined.

UW-Parkside will be making its fourth appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament and its eighth overall appearance in a national tournament. The Rangers earned NCAA bids in 2013-2014, 2012-2013, and 2006-2007 while earning spots in the NAIA National Tournament in 1977-1978, 1976-1977, 1975-1976, and 1974-1975. All four of the NCAA Tournament bids have come under the tenure of 2015 GLVC Coach of the Year Luke Reigel who is currently in his 12th season at the helm.

The winner of Saturday's Parkside-Lewis game will take on the winner of the University of Indianapolis-Michigan Tech University contest on Sunday. UIndy (23-5) earned the third seed as an at-large selection while the Huskies (19-8) are the sixth seed, also as an at-large.

Host and GLVC East Co-Champion Bellarmine (27-3) earned the top seed and will face eighth-seed and GLVC Tournament Champion Drury University (21-8) in a rematch of today's conference championship game while fourth-seeded Lake Superior State University (25-6) and fifth-seeded and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion Ferris State University (23-8) battle in a rematch of today's GLIAC title game. Second round winners will meet on Tuesday night with the regional champion advancing to the Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana.

The Rangers are enjoying one of the most prolific seasons in program history, setting new school records for overall wins and wins in GLVC play while capturing a share of the GLVC East Division crown for the third consecutive season.