Box Score The Rangers coasted in their home opener Saturday afternoon at DeSimone Gymnasium, against the RedHawks from Indiana University-Northwest. The UW-Parkside men's basketball team now stands at 1-0 in this early 2011-12 season.

Behind an astounding 125 points they defeated the Redhawks by 55 points in a 125-70 victory. Thirteen players from UW-Parkside tallied points today while five finished in double figures. It is the most points by a UW-Parkside Men's Basketball Team since 127-122 double overtime win over Ferris State in 1987.  It is believed to be the most points ever scored in regulation for a UW-Parkside men's basketball team.

"After we settled in a little bit on the defensive end we kind of took off," said head coach Luke Reigel. "We have a lot of guys that can put the ball in the basket. I was really happy we had a lot of guys contribute today." 

From the get-go the Rangers lit up the score board. In the first  ten minutes of play the Rangers scored 34 points, and the offense continued to operate on cruise control throughout the game.

At the end of the first half the Rangers led 60-34 and went into their locker room shooting 25-for-40 (62.5%) from the field in comparison to the RedHawks who shot 12-for-28 (42.9%).

The Rangers lit it up from behind the arc as well. For the game, the Rangers shot 15-of-31 (48.4%) from the 3-point line. Colt Grandstaff shot 4-for-6 from deep range coming off the bench to score 16 points.

The Rangers picked up in the second half where the first half ended, and continued to operate on cruise control. The Rangers scored 65 points in the second half, five more than their effort in the first half.

The RedHawks could not keep up to the offensive dominance of the Rangers. Parkside's depth created a gloomy day for the RedHawks as the Rangers scored 76 points off the bench.

The Rangers clicked on all cylinders as 28 points were scored off turnovers to go with 18 fast break points. Nick Neari came off the bench to facilitate more scoring as he dished out a team leading seven assists and displayed great ball control with zero turnovers.

"The thing I liked the most was how unselfish we played today," said Reigel. "We not only made the extra pass, we made two or three extra passes and just got great shots all night long"

Five Rangers finished with double figures as freshman Ziggy Riauka poured 18 points off the bench and brought down eight rebounds. Steve Jaskulske finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Colt Grandstaff came off the bench to score 16 points, Jarvis Lawson knocked down five, three-pointers to finish with 15 and Conrad Krutwig added 12.

Justin Latimore led the RedHawks with 29 points and six rebounds. He was 10-for-17 from the field.

The 125 points by the Rangers was a full-fledged team effort. No Ranger was left off of the box score and every Ranger showed their value.

"The nice thing about this group is we are not going to have to rely on one person to carry us" said Reigel. "The three new guys that played a lot for us tonight all did some nice things on the offensive end."

Next weekend the Rangers take on Saginaw Valley State University (MI) at 7;00 p.m. on Saturday November 18th. That will be the first game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic Presented by Comfort Suites.