It hasn't worked out the way the UW-Parkside men's basketball team envisioned in terms of starting off Great Lakes Valley Conference play for 2007-08. The Rangers attempted to rebound from a loss at Rockhurst two days prior, but came up short again, this time 73-67, at Drury, in Springfield, Missouri, Saturday afternoon.

The Rangers trailed throughout all but a few early moments of the game, but whittled what once was a 12-point margin at its greatest point to 65-61 with 1 minute to play. Brad Ferstenou (Burlington, Wis.) was whistled for an intentional foul with 55 seconds to play, giving Collins Harris a pair of free throws. Harris made one of two shots, plus Drury was awarded possession of the basketball and scored a bucket.

UW-Parkside nearly overcame that situation, closing the gap to 69-67 on three foul shots by Dave Keane. The Rangers needed to foul and did so with 8 ticks left, but  Steven Gum sank a pair of free throws. A Ranger turnover on their next possession and another foul resulted in two more Gum free throws to finish the game with a six-point differential.

Harris led all scorers with 22 points on 10-14 shooting before fouling out. Ferstenou also was expelled from the contest as was the Rangers' Mike Bendall. UW-Parkside was whistled for 16 fouls in the second half compared to five by the Panthers.

LaVontay Fenderson led the Rangers in scoring with 16 points. He completed a double-double by adding a dozen rebounds. Kyle Clark added 13 and Ferstenou had 10.

The loss drops the Rangers, ranked No. 24 in the nation, to 0-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The team will have to wait an entire month before another league game looms. Drury, ranked No. 11 in the nation, ups its mark to 2-0 in the league and 4-0 overall. The Rangers are 3-2 overall.

Next up for UW-Parkside is a non-conference clash with Northland Baptist. That game will be played at the DeSimone Gymnasium Saturday, Dec. 8, at 2 p.m.