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

SOMERS, Wis.. (Jan. 14, 2014)-- The Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Co-Leader University of Wisconsin-Parkside continues its road swing this week, heading down to the Land of Lincoln to begin divisional play against the University of Illinois Springfield and McKendree University.

The Rangers and Prairie Stars battle on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. inside The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC) before closing the road swing on Saturday afternoon in Lebanon, Ill., taking on the Bearcats at 3 p.m. inside the Statham Center. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Steve Kratochvil will be on the call on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (11-2, 4-0 GLVC) has won its first four GLVC games for the second consecutive season and looks to improve to 5-0 in league action for the first time in program history. The red-hot Rangers head to Illinois after dismantling the University of Missouri-Saint Louis 89-76 on Jan. 9 before blowing by Maryville University 84-63 on Jan. 11.

Against the Tritons, Zygimantas Riauka tallied a career-high 28 points as the visiting Rangers pulled away in the final 10 minutes for the 13-point victory. UW-Parkside dominated the paint, owning a 46-22 edge in points in the paint while owning a 37-29 rebounding advantage.

Two days later against Maryville, the Rangers led wire-to-wire in the 21-point blowout. Riauka once again led the charge, piling on 23 points along with 11 rebounds, registering his sixth straight double-double.

For his performance against the GLVC's Saint Louis squads, Riauka was named the GLVC Player of the Week on Monday, becoming the second UW-Parkside player to claim the award this season. Teammate Jordan Mach won the first GLVC Player of the Week award of the season on Nov. 11.

On the season, Riauka leads the Rangers in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.1 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game. The junior forward additionally paces the team in blocks, claiming 22 of the team's 39 on the season while ranking 12th nationally in field goal percentage (66.7 percent). Jimmy Gavin has been a consistent spark off the bench, averaging 15.2 ppg while shooting 48.2 percent from three-point range.  Jordan Mach adds 14.5 ppg while Andy Mazurczak and Colt Grandstaff add 12.5 and 11.6 ppg, respectively.

As a team, the Rangers rank fourth nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 53.3 percent on the season and rank 16th in scoring margin at +15.5.

Jan. 16 vs. University of Illinois Springfield at The Recreation and Athletic Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Prairie Stars have met on seven occasions with UW-Parkside owning the upper hand, winning four of those encounters. The two teams did not meet during the 2012-2013 season, having last met on Jan. 12, 2012 with visiting UIS prevailing 79-68.

About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (5-7, 1-3 GLVC) heads into Thursday having lost three of its last four games. The Prairie Stars opened GLVC action by falling 81-67 to Maryville on Jan. 3 before succumbing to UMSL 69-67 two days later as the Tritons knocked down the game-winner with three seconds left. UIS dropped a 76-70 decision to Truman State University last Thursday before edging Quincy University 106-99 on Jan. 11.

Four of UIS's five wins have come inside the TRAC, owning a 4-2 record in home games while winning just one of six games away from Springfield.

Illinois Springfield has four players averaging in double figures with Jacob Williams pacing the squad in scoring and rebounding, registering 17.0 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. Regan Bruenger and Jamall Millison tally 11.8 and 11.6 ppg, respectively while Brandon Snowden adds 10.7 ppg.

Jan. 18 vs. McKendree University at Statham Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Bearcats have met three times on the hardwood with UW-Parkside winning all three contests. Parkside swept the Bearcats last season in McKendree's first season as a member of the GLVC, rolling to a 76-59 victory on Jan. 19 in Lebanon, Ill., before claiming a 76-63 win on Feb. 14 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.

About the Bearcats: McKendree (6-5, 0-3 GLVC) heads into Thursday's game against Lewis University looking to snap a three-game slide. The Bearcats' slump began with a 105-78 defeat against UMSL on Jan. 3 while their Jan. 5 showdown with Maryville was postponed due to inclement weather. McKendree fell 103-72 to Quincy on Jan. 9 before falling 91-60 against Truman State last Saturday.

Clinton Happe leads McKendree in scoring, averaging 16.8 points per game while Mike DiGregorio adds 14.3 ppg. Will Kirksey contributes 13.4 ppg and 5.4 rebounds per game with Matt Holmes adding 10.2 ppg and 6.0 rpg. Arthur Williams leads the Bearcats on the glass, grabbing 8.5 rpg while scoring 9.5 ppg.

4-0: Since joining the GLVC before the 1995-1996 season up until the 2011-2012 campaign, UW-Parkside had never started conference play 4-0. The Rangers began last season 4-0 en route to the program's first ever GLVC East Division title while starting this season with a 4-0 mark. If the Rangers prevail on Thursday in Springfield it will be the first 5-0 GLVC start in program history.

80-Point Club: UW-Parkside heads into Thursday averaging 84.3 points per game and has scored at least 80 points in nine of the 13 regular season games in 2013-2014. Despite posting a 20-9 record and winning the GLVC East Division, the Rangers scored more than 80 points on just seven occasions all last season.

Pod-demonium: The GLVC has broken the two divisions into pods of four. Pod mates will play each other in a home and home series and play all other opponents once. UW-Parkside's pod includes UIS, McKendree and Lewis.

Preseason Picks: The Rangers have been picked to finish fifth in the GLVC East, according to the league's 16 head coaches. Bellarmine University has been picked to win the division followed by the University of Southern Indiana, University of Indianapolis and Lewis University. In the West Division, defending NCAA Division II National Champion Drury University has been selected to repeat as champs.

GLVC Shuffle: This offseason the 16-member GLVC saw a few tweaks to its membership. Charter member Kentucky Wesleyan College exited the league to join the nascent Great Midwest Athletic Conference with Truman State University from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association filling the void. The addition of Truman moved the University of Illinois Springfield from the West Division to the East Division.

Reigel's Rangers: Head Coach Luke Reigel begins his 11th season as head coach and his 14th season overall at UW-Parkside in 2013-2014. Reigel was named the 2013 Jack Bennett Man of the Year while also earning Midwest Region and GLVC Coach of the Year honors. The Wisconsin native sits second on the all-time wins list with 132 wins and has guided the Rangers to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths.

Returning to the sidelines will be assistants Tom Reigel and Andy Atkins while Keven Bradley joins the staff as the program's top assistant. Bradley joined the program over the summer after serving in a similar capacity at Upper Iowa University where he helped the Peacocks qualify for the NCAA Division II Tournament last season.