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

Box Score

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 26, 2013)-- It was a battle of Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division leaders on Saturday inside DeSimone Gymnasium with the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team pulling off its second upset of a top 10 squad in as many tries, leading nearly wire-to-wire to edge No. 3 Kentucky Wesleyan College, 60-59, to remain in a three-way tie for first place.

The afternoon began with five teams tied atop the GLVC East Division standings. After the dust settles only UW-Parkside, University of Southern Indiana and the winner of tonight's Bellarmine University-University of Indianapolis game will be on top with identical 7-2 records.

The Rangers (12-5, 7-2 GLVC) led by as many as 12 points in the second half before surviving the Panthers' late charge. A Bryant Smith layup with 11:36 left in the second half gave the home side its largest lead of the night at 52-40. UWP's lead stood at eight points with 6:06 left before Kentucky Wesleyan (14-3, 6-3 GLVC) ripped off nine straight points to take their first and only lead of the night with 2:31 left. Nick Neari drained a jumper 25 seconds later to give the lead back to the Rangers in what proved to be the final score of the afternoon as neither team could secure a bucket in a wild final 2 minutes of play.

Zygimantas Riauka recorded a monster block on KWC's Dazmond Starke with 64 seconds left but the Rangers were unable to turn the opportunity into points misfiring on a pair of shots and giving the ball back to the nation's third ranked squad with 29 seconds left. Jeremy Saffold grabbed a key rebound with 4.1 seconds left as was sent to the line. Saffold misfired on both attempts from the charity stripe as Starke grabbed the rebound and the Panthers called timeout with 3.8 ticks left. Neari emerged as the hero in the final seconds, intercepting the inbounds pass off the timeout to run out the clock and preserve the win.

UW-Parkside led the entire first half and enjoyed a 37-34 lead at the break.

Colt Grandstaff came off the bench and led the Rangers with 12 points, hitting six of his nine attempts from the field. Jeremy Saffold added 11 points and six boards while Riauka posted a game-high 11 rebounds along with a pair of blocks and six points. Neari finished with a hard earned nine points and four steals, collecting the game winning basket and the game sealing steal.

Three Panthers finished in double figures with Starke leading the way with 15 points. J.D. Danforth added 10 points and eight rebounds while Cornbread Walker added 10 off the bench.

UW-Parkside committed zero turnovers in the first half and finished the contest with a 16-2 edge in points off turnovers, forcing the Panthers to part with the ball on 18 occasions during the game. The Rangers additionally enjoyed a 28-18 edge in the paint.

The victory is the Rangers second over a ranked squad in three days after shocking No. 10 Southern Indiana 77-68 on Thursday inside DeSimone Gymnasium.

UWP returns to the court on Thursday, traveling to face Saint Joseph's College with tipoff slated for 5:30 p.m.