Box Score FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Box Score

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 24, 2013)-- Generating turnovers and getting to the charity stripe turned into a winning formula for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team on Thursday night inside DeSimone Gymnasium, dominating both categories in route to a 77-68 upset victory over 10th-ranked University of Southern Indiana to force a five-way tie atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division.

The Rangers (11-5, 6-2 GLVC) forced 19 Screaming Eagle turnovers and generated 26 points from those opportunities while only coughing up the ball on nine occasions and limiting the damage to just five USI points. UW-Parkside additionally enjoyed 25 trips to the line, hitting 21 (84 percent) while the Screaming Eagles (13-3, 6-2 GLVC) toed the free throw stripe just eight times all night.

The Rangers win coupled with a Lewis University upset of No. 3 Kentucky Wesleyan College, turned the GLVC East Division race into chaos with five team's sitting in first place with 6-2 records. UW-Parkside and Southern Indiana are joined by Kentucky Wesleyan, Bellarmine University and the University of Indianapolis in first place.

UWP spotted the Eagles the opening four points and trailed 6-2 in the early going before Zygimantas Riauka and Jeremy Saffold combined to score the next 10 points to stake a 12-6 lead for the homestanding Rangers with 14:10 remaining in the first stanza. Riauka accounted for six points during the rally while Saffold tallied the remaining four in the spurt.

An 11-2 surge reclaimed the lead for Southern Indiana, enjoying a 24-21 buffer with 4:35 remaining. UW-Parkside scored the next six points to reclaim the lead, as the Rangers would never trail the rest of the way. A Conrad Krutwig layup with 3:40 before halftime pushed UWP in front for good, taking a 33-28 lead into the locker room at intermission.

The Screaming Eagles tied the game on two separate occasions in the early moments of the second half before the Rangers attempted to pull away, scoring five quick points to stake a 49-42 lead with 15 minutes left. The buffer grew to eight points before USI threes on consecutive possessions and a layup closed the gap to just two points with just under 10 minutes remaining.

UW-Parkside answered the call with a 7-0 run to increase the gap to nine points, utilizing a Krutwig three sandwiched between pair of free throws from Colt Grandstaff and Bryant Smith. USI chipped into the lead and cut the gap to four points with 2:41 left before a 6-0 Ranger run swelled the lead to double digits and closed the door on the nationally-ranked visitors.

Saffold paced the Rangers with a game-high 25 points while also grabbing seven rebounds. Krutwig finished with 17 points while Riauka was the third Ranger in double figures, closing the night with 14 points and a team-high eight boards. Smith dished out four assists while accounting for four of the team's nine steals in the game.

Southern Indiana was led by Orlando Rutledge who ended the game with 20 points. Taylor Wischmeier and Lawrence Thomas both added 10 points while Kenyon Smith had a game-high nine boards.

The Rangers return to the court on Saturday, hosting third-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan in a battle of divisional leaders. Tipoff inside DeSimone Gymnasium is slated for 3 p.m.