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

SOMERS, Wis. (Nov. 19, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad hits the road for the second consecutive weekend, looking to keep its perfect record intact as it tours Minnesota over the weekend. The Rangers open the trip on Friday against Saint Cloud State University before facing the University of Minnesota Duluth on Sunday.
 
The Rangers and Huskies tipoff at 7 p.m. on Friday inside Halenbeck Hall before closing out the trip on Sunday against the Bulldogs inside Romano Gymnasium at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available for both contests.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (2-0) collected a pair of wins last weekend to open the season, victimizing a pair of Puerto Rican squads. Zygimantas Riauka netted a double-double and Jimmy Gavin poured on 21 points as the Rangers downed the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon 73-53 on Nov. 14 before claiming another 20-point win at the expense of University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras the following day.
 
Against UPR-Bayamon, Riauka had 17 points and 15 rebounds while Andy Mazurczak and Chavares Flanigan added 10 and eight points, respectively. The Rangers sunk 54.7 percent (29-for-53) of its shots against the Vaqueros and owned a 36-26 rebounding edge.
 
Against UPR-Rio Piedras Riauka led the way with 23 points and eight boards in the 75-55 whitewash. The Rangers limited the Gallitos to shooting just 35.8 percent (19-for-53) from the floor and dominated the glass with a 44-24 rebounding advantage.
 
Through two games, Riauka is the Rangers' leader in points (20.0 per game), rebounds (11.5 per game), assists (4.5 per game) and blocks (four). Gavin adds 15.0 ppg along with 4.0 rpg while Flanigan and Mazurczak each average 8.0 ppg. Jalen Currie ranks second on the squad in rebounding, grabbing 4.5 rpg.
 
About the Huskies: Saint Cloud State (2-0) preps for its home opener after nabbing a pair of wins in Las Vegas last weekend. The Huskies opened the season with a 65-58 win over Lindenwood University before downing Emporia State University 87-77 the next night.
 
Against Lindenwood, the Huskies trailed early before taking a 29-27 edge into the locker room at halftime. SCSU maintained its lead the entire second half, giving head coach Matt Reimer the win in his debut. James Fort paced the Huskies with 20 points while Jordan Poydras and Kevin Levandoski added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Against Emporia State, Saint Cloud State led by as many as 19 points with five players ending the game in double figures. Poydras led the way with 22 points while Fort tallied a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
 
Fort leads the Huskies in both scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg) on the season while Poydras chips in 16.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg. Levandowski and Donnell Cegers also average in double figures, contributing 13.0 and 11.5 ppg, respectively.
 
About the Bulldogs: Minnesota-Duluth (3-0) heads into the weekend with five total games under its belt, playing two exhibitions before rolling to three straight wins to open the regular season.
 
The Bulldogs faced both the University of Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota during its exhibition slate, hanging around in an 88-71 setback to the Fighting Irish on Nov. 1 before stumbling 95-68 to the Golden Gophers five days later.
 
UMD began the regular season with an 89-58 rout of Lincoln University before edging host Southwest Baptist University 68-67 to close out the SBU Classic. The Bulldogs continued its winning ways on Tuesday, downing cross-border rival University of Wisconsin-Superior 80-70.
 
Four Bulldogs enter the weekend averaging double digit scoring with Brett Ervin leading the way, averaging 16.7 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Pierre Newton averages 15.7 ppg anf a team-best 7.3 rpg while Brendon Pineda and Taylor Lavery contribute 13.0 and 12.0 ppg.

2013-14 Rewind: The Rangers faced both Saint Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth last season. The Rangers fell 87-84 to Saint Cloud State on Nov. 23 inside DeSimone Gymnasium in what turned out to be the squad's only home loss while bouncing Minnesota-Duluth 83-70 three days later on Nov. 26.

A 19-2 run midway through the second half put the visiting Huskies in the driver seat, fending off a late Parkside charge to secure the three-point win. Against UMD, an overwhelming 16-point lead at halftime was more than enough for the Rangers to secure the win against the Bulldogs. UW-Parkside was lights out in the opening 20 minutes of play, sinking eight of its 12 attempts from three-point range.
 
Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2014-2015, retaining the setup of two divisions with two 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 University of Illinois Springfield, McKendree University and Lewis University.

Preseason Prognostications: Despite winning the GLVC East Division in each of the last two seasons, the Rangers were picked fourth in the annual GLVC Coaches' Poll.
 
UW-Parkside garnered 90 total points, including two first-place endorsements to secure fourth in the GLVC East. Bellarmine University is the division's favorite for the second straight season, amassing 102 points and six first place votes. Lewis University is slotted at No. 2 in the East with five first place votes and 96 points while East Co-Champion University of Indianapolis is third with 93 points and three first place nods.
 
Defending GLVC Tournament Champion University of Southern Indiana is fifth with 79 points followed by the University of Illinois Springfield in sixth (39 points), Saint Joseph's College in seventh (36 points) with McKendree University occupying the cellar with 33 points.
 
In the West Division, 2013 National Champion Drury University collected 120 points, securing 15 first place votes. University of Missouri-Saint Louis scooped up the lone remaining first place endorsement, securing 95 total points to claim the No. 2 spot. Quincy University with 79 points and Truman State University with 77 points round out the upper half of the West in third and fourth, respectively.
 
Maryville University occupies the fifth spot with 72 points followed by William Jewell College in sixth (53 points), Missouri University S&T in seventh (42 points) and Rockhurst University in eighth (30 points).
 
Home Cooking: UW-Parkside has won 17 of its last 18 GLVC games inside DeSimone Gymnasium. That stretch includes seven wins over nationally-ranked opponents and four wins over Top 10 teams. The Rangers have additionally won their last 12 games at home.

20-Win Club: The Rangers eclipsed the 20-win barrier for the second consecutive season in 2013-2014, marking the first time since 1987 that the program has notched back-to-back 20-win campaigns and the first time since joining NCAA Division II in 1995. UW-Parkside pieced together three in a row from 1984-85 to 1986-87 while the team was a member of the NAIA. The Rangers were 22-7 in 1984-85, 21-9 in 1985-86 and 22-8 in 1986-87.

Reigel's Rangers: Head Coach Luke Reigel begins his 12th season as head coach and his 15th season overall at UW-Parkside in 2014-2015.

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 147 wins and has guided the Rangers to three NCAA Tournament berths.

Returning to the sidelines will be associate coach Keven Bradley and assistant Tom Reigel while Andy Fitzgerald joins the staff as assistant from Edgewood College.