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

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Jan. 16, 2014)-- Digging deep with a gritty second half performance, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team forged ahead into uncharted territory, downing University of Illinois Springfield 94-81 to improve to 5-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play for the first time in program history.

The win coupled with Bellarmine University's 81-79 setback against University of Indianapolis puts the Rangers (12-2, 5-0 GLVC) in sole possession of first place in the GLVC East as the lone remaining undefeated squad in league play.

UW-Parkside trailed by as many as 10 points before seizing control late in a game featuring six lead changes and five ties.

Back-to-back threes from Colt Grandstaff gave visiting UW-Parkside the early 6-0 advantage. The Prairie Stars quickly knotted the game at six with 16:28 remaining. Illinois Springfield (5-8, 1-4 GLVC) grabbed its first lead of the game at 11-10 courtesy of a Brandon Snowden layup.

UW-Parkside trailed 18-15 with 11:49 left after a Jordan Mach three-point bomb but UIS used an 11-4 spurt to grab a double digit advantage with 8:25 left in the opening stanza. Parkside quickly erased the deficit, reclaiming the lead with 4:08 left in the half off a Gregory Smith trey. The squads traded jabs the rest of the half with UIS enjoying a slim 41-40 lead at the intermission.

Illinois Springfield led by as many as six points in the second half before UW-Parkside grabbed its first lead since the opening half at 75-74 with 5:41 left off a pair of free throws from Jimmy Gavin, part of a 13-0 run as the Green and White built a 84-74 advantage with 3:27 left.

UW-Parkside kept the hosts at arms length the rest of the way en route to the 13-point win.

"It's all about mental toughness on the road in this league," said head coach Luke Reigel. "UIS will beat someone good at this place (The TRAC), I'm just glad its not us."

Grandstaff led all scorers with 24 points, shooting nine-for-11 from the floor while Zygimantas Riauka tallied 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds along with six assists and a pair of blocks. Gavin tallied 14 points off the bench while Mach tallied 13 and Mazurczak added 10 along with a team-high nine assists.

Jacob Williams led UIS with 15 points while Snowden and Regan Bruenger added 13 and 12 points, respectively. Dylan Sparkmen led Illinois Springfield on the glass with 12 boards while adding eight points.

UW-Parkside committed just seven turnovers during the game while shooting 52.3 percent (34-for-65) from the field, including 61.3 percent (19-for-31) in the second 20 minutes of action.

The Rangers close their four game road swing on Saturday, facing McKendree University at 3 p.m.