Box Score

The UW-Parkside men's basketball team found itself in a familiar position at Bellarmine Thursday night - in a tight game down the stretch. The homestanding Knights broke free from a 54-53 deficit with 8 minutes to play and clung to a 70-67 victory over the visiting Rangers.

The loss dropped the Rangers, ranked No. 8 in the Great Lakes Region, to 12-6 overall and 5-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Bellarmine improved to 13-6 overall and 7-4 in league play.

A steal and subsequent layup by Jamie Jackson put BU on top at 55-54 with 7:23 to go in the contest. It was a lead the team would never relinquish. Bellarmine's Jeff Wachtel made a pair of free throws with 9 second left to give his team a 69-64 advantage. A quick three-ball by LaVontay Fenderson pulled the Rangers to within a conventional bucket with six ticks left on the clock.

UW-Parkside was forced to foul, sending Chartrael Hall to the stripe with 3 second left. Hall made one of two, leaving the door open for the Rangers to tie with a three-point shot. Out of timeouts, the Rangers inbounded the ball and got a 35-footer from Kyle Clark, whose shot was off the mark; however, the official ruled the attempt came after the buzzer anyway.

Six-foot, eight-inch, 250-pound Dzaflo Larkai had his way down low against the Rangers. He scored 23 points on 9-14 shooting.

Clark paced the Ranger attack with 19 points and Fenderson added 18.

Bellarmine shot 50 percent for the game, compared to 40 percent for the Rangers. The Knights survived despite caughing up 21 turnovers. 

The largest lead for either side was six points, a gap each squad enjoyed. There were eight lead changes and eight tie scores.

The Rangers will travel to Highland Heights, Kentucky, to take on Northern Kentucky Saturday at 2:15 p.m. CST.