Box Score
The UW-Parkside men's basketball team picked up an impressive home win on Thursday night knocking off Wayne State University (MI), 62-52. The Rangers improved to 6-3 while snapping the Warriors eight-game winning streak and dropping them to 8-2. Parkside also improved their non-conference record to 6-1 including a 4-1 mark against the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Jeremy Saffold led the Rangers with 18 points including the last 11 of the game for Parkside. Ziggy Raiuka added 10 as once again the Rangers depth played a key role. Nine players scored and ten had rebounds in the win.

Video Interview with Saffold

Ike Udanoh led Wayne State with 17 points and 10 rebounds but the Rangers' posts harassed him into a 6-for-17 shooting night.

The victory also marked a milestone for Ranger head coach Luke Reigel. It was his 100th career victory as a head coach. He becomes just the third coach in program history to record 100 victories.

Both teams got off to slow starts before the Rangers heated up four minutes in. They turned a 4-3 deficit into a 15-6 lead on a baseline jumper by Conrad Krutwig. The lead stayed around eight points for much of the remainder of the half before Parkside put together one more run.

They finished the stanza on an 11-2 burst highlighted by five straight points by Jeremy Saffold including a deep three. Steve Jaskulske's put-back with 12 seconds to go made it 40-25 at the break.

Wayne State used their defense to get back in it. They held the Rangers to just three points in the first 8:45 of the second half and trimmed the lead to 43-38. A fast break lay-up by Saffold ended the drought and pushed the lead back to seven.

The Warriors immediately got it back to five before Sam Katula came up with four straight points including a slashing lay-up to make it 49-40 with just over nine minutes to go.

Wayne State responded with a 9-2 run to make it a 51-49 game with 4:20 left.

Saffold attacked the rim to stem the tide and went 3-for-4 at the line to put Parkside back up 54-49 with just under three minutes left.

Two free throws by Ian Larkin and one by Cole Prophet made it 54-52 with 1:17 left. And set up an exciting finish.
Saffold came up with a huge offensive rebound on the ensuing possession and was fouled on the put back. His two free throws made it 56-52 with 55 seconds left.

The Rangers then came up with a big defensive play, forcing a turnover and turned it into the play of the night. Riauka got it to Leneal Harris who flipped it ahead to Saffold. Jeremy finished the breakaway lay-up and was fouled bringing the crowd to its feet. He knocked down the freebie and added four more to build the cushion back up and secure the victory.

Parkside will play one more non-conference contest before heading into GLVC play. They will be right back on the DeSimone floor Friday night with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Trinity Christian College. Please note the 7:00 p.m. starting time (30 minutes earlier than normal).

The Rangers resume conference play next week when the travel to Missouri-St. Louis on January 5.