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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 8, 2013)-- After a pair of big road wins last week the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad returns to the friendly confines of DeSimone Gymnasium, opening up the home portion of the Great Lakes Valley Conference season by hosting Rockhurst University on Thursday and William Jewell College on Saturday.

The Rangers tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday while hitting the court at 3 p.m. on Saturday against the Cardinals. Live stats, video and audio will be available for both games. Steve Kratochvil will be providing play-by-play for both contests while Jim Kramer will be providing color commentary on the audio feed available online and on WRJN 1400 AM in the Kenosha-Racine area.

Saturday's game is Racine Raiders Day as the UW-Parkside athletic department will honor the 2012 Semi-Pro National Champions during the game. The Raiders finished the year with a 14-1 record, winning the Mid States Football League Championship before defeating the Nashville Storm 38-24 on Nov. 10, securing the organization's eighth national title and first since 2001.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside opened up GLVC play last week, returning from a two-game road swing of Missouri with a 2-0 record. The Rangers dominated Missouri S&T University 72-50 in Rolla on Jan. 3 before downing then 14th-ranked Drury University 90-88 on Saturday in a wild affair featuring eight lead changes and five ties.

UW-Parkside led by 18 at the half and increased the advantage to 20 early in the second half. The nationally-ranked Panthers surged back and grabbed a 79-72 lead with 2:43 left before the Rangers scored seven straight to tie the game and force overtime.

The Panthers raced to an early lead in overtime before a Jeremy Saffold three-pointer with 2:23 remaining knotted the score at 86-86. A Brandon Lockhart layup with 37 ticks left put the hosts back on top before Krutwig buried a three with seven seconds left to put visiting UWP back on top. Conrad Krutwig tacked on a free throw with two seconds left and a Drury three at the buzzer fell shy.

Saffold led all scorers with 27 points while Krutwig added 25, draining six threes on the afternoon.

Leading the Rangers' scoring effort this season is Saffold as the senior forward averages 21.2 points per game. His average currently leads the GLVC and is 16th nationally. Zygimantas Riauka adds 13.3 ppg and a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game while Krutwig contributes 11.5 ppg.

Jan. 10 vs. Rockhurst at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Hawks have met six times on the hardwood with each squad winning three.

Last Meeting: The Rangers defeated Rockhurst 64-54 on Dec. 4, 2010 in Kansas City. Jeremy Saffold had eight points and eight rebounds in the game as the Rangers closed the contest on an 18-8 run.

About the Hawks: Rockhurst (1-8, 0-2 GLVC) opened the season with an 87-58 victory over Kansas Wesleyan University but has since dropped eight straight including a pair of GLVC contests against Saint Joseph's College (72-70) and the University of Indianapolis (86-74).

Brandon McCann paces the Hawks, averaging 11.2 points per game while James Robinson chips in 11.1 ppg. David Wingerson is the lone player to start all nine games, entering the week with a 5.7 ppg average. On the glass, Cooper Beckett leads the squad, tallying 4.8 rebounds per game while also amassing a team-high 11 blocks on the year.

Rockhurst sits ninth nationally in free throw percentage, hitting 77 percent of its opportunities from the charity stripe while the offense averages just 59.8 points per game, ranking 281st out of 286 Division II institutions.

Jan. 12 vs. William Jewell at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Cardinals have never met on the hardwood. 2011-2012 was WJC's first season in the GLVC and NCAA Division II. Jewell previously competed in the NAIA in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Jewell was a charter member of the league when it was formed in 1971.

About the Cardinals: Jewell (5-5, 1-1 GLVC) rolls into Thursday's game at Lewis having alternated wins and losses through the first 10 games of the season. The Cardinals opened GLVC play with a 80-61 loss to UIndy before slipping past St. Joseph's 68-66 on Saturday as Dwight Sistrunk Jr. hit the game-winning jumper with 2.9 seconds left.

Dillon Deck is William Jewell's leading scorer, averaging 15.4 ppg along with 8.0 rpg while John Taylor and Sistrunk add 11.9 and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Sistrunk is third in the GLVC in assists per game, dishing out 5.50 a contest.

Player of the Week: Jeremy Saffold was named the GLVC Player of the Week on Monday for his performance against Missouri S&T and Drury. The senior forward averaged 23.5 points and 6.5 rebounds during the two-game stretch including a 27-point effort against the Panthers. Saffold concluded the week shooting 54.8 percent (17-for-31) from the floor while shooting at a 50 percent (three-for-six) clip from beyond the arc.

Record Book Watch: Saffold continues to climb the program's all-time scoring list. With 1,250 career points, the forward is 12th on the all-time list. He is 46 points shy of 11th held by Andy Schmidtmann (1987-90) and 84 points short of Chuck Chambliss (1971-74) and cracking the top ten.

National Rankings: The Rangers rank ninth nationally (of 286) in assist to turnover ratio (1.39) and are 12th in turnover margin at +5.6. UWP additionally ranks 15th in scoring margin (+14.9) and 16th in turnover per game (11.6) and 22nd in field goal percentage (49.7).

Fast Start: UWP's 2-0 start is program's hottest start in GLVC play since a 2-0 start to begin conference action during the 2001-2002 season under then head coach Jeff Rutter. A win on Thursday would give the Rangers their first 3-0 start in GLVC play since joining the league in 1995-1996.

Road Warriors: UW-Parkside is 3-0 in true road games in 2012-2013. The Rangers edged the University of Minnesota-Duluth 67-61 to begin the season on Nov. 11 before picking up a pair of GLVC road wins last week. Of the Rangers' three defeats, two have come inside DeSimone Gymnasium while the other was a two-point loss to Morehouse College on a neutral floor at the Hooters of Melbourne Thanksgiving Tournament in Florida.