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Video Interview with Leneal Harris

The UW-Parkside men's basketball team improves to 3-0 on the season with a dramatic come-from-behind win against Northwood University on Saturday night. The Rangers pulled out a 71-70 victory in front of a boisterous crowd at the DeSimone Gymnasium to finish up the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at 2-0.

 “It was a gutsy effort by our team,” said head coach Luke Reigel. “It was a great win for us. (The crowd) was phenomenal tonight, and the energy that was in the gym was awesome.”

The barnburner in Kenosha was a nail biter to the final horn. Down the stretch the lead changed five times in the final four minutes as two late free throws by Jeremy Saffold gave the Rangers the final points they needed for a key victory.

“I don't care what (Jeremy's) numbers were, he's playing good basketball right now,” said Reigel.

The Timberwolves got the ball back with 22 seconds and called a timeout with 14.5 seconds to set up their half court offense. Northwood got the ball down low to Cameron Joyce who's bank shot from the paint didn't fall. The ball was furiously tapped around near the rim before falling out of bounds as the buzzer sounded.

The Rangers, down 13 points in the second half (Northwood's largest lead), chipped away point-by-point until finally tying the game at 62 with 5:32 left as Jordan Mach sunk a free throw following a flagrant foul.

“We needed a game like this where we came out on the winning end,” said Reigel. “We really executed in the half court when we needed to.”

Parkside's depth keyed their second half comeback as Javar Lawson stoked the fire for the Rangers. Lawson instantly showed his value by scoring five points and pulling down seven rebounds which led the team.

“One of the unsung heroes tonight was definitely Javar Lawson” said Reigel “He's always working hard and ready to go. He was a huge boost off the bench in the second half.”

With Lawson providing the energy, Leneal Harris and Mach led the offensive push. Harris and Mach led the way for the Rangers, combining for 36 points. Harris led all scorers with 19 points. His three-pointer, with 3:54 left gave Parkside their first lead of the second half. Mach poured in 17 while draining four from behind the arc.

The Rangers came out sizzling hot in the first half setting the early tone. UWP went on an 11-0 run in a two-minute span to stretch their largest lead of the night to 12.

Leading 14-2 the Rangers suddenly went cold. Parkside did not score a field goal for almost ten minutes as Northwood outscored the home team 30-6 during that stretch.

“To go so long without hitting a field goal and still win is really a credit to our team,” said Reigel. “We really got flying and were playing so well. We kind of hit a wall and it was obvious to me we got out of our rhythm.”

Parkside finished the night shooting 21-for-56 (37.5%) while making eight three-pointers, and Northwood shot 27-of-59 from the field (45.8%).

The Rangers next game is Tuesday November 22^nd at Michigan Tech. Tip-off is at 6 P.M. as the Rangers travel to the Michigan's Upper Peninsula to the town of Houghton.