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

SOMERS, Wis. (Nov. 26, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball begins its home slate on Saturday afternoon, welcoming Walsh University to DeSimone Gymnasium in a battle of unbeatens to kick off a five-game homestand to close the calendar year.
 
The Rangers and Cavaliers hit the hardwood at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for the non-conference clash. Steve Kratochvil will be providing the play-by-play while Jim Kramer will be adding color commentary on the audio feed available online on gatewaysportsweb.org.
 
Series History: This is the first ever meeting between the Rangers and Cavaliers.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (4-0) finally enjoys the comforts of home after two weeks on the road, securing four wins during that stretch. All four of the Rangers' victories have come by double digits, collecting a pair of 20-point wins at the expense of the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon and the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras to open the season before netting double digit decisions against both Saint Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth last weekend.
 
The Rangers led nearly wire-to-wire on Nov. 21 against the host Saint Cloud State, earning a 76-65 win behind a 16-point and seven rebound effort from Jalen Currie. Jimmy Gavin tallied 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a game the Rangers crushed the Huskies down low, owning a 42-20 edge in points in the paint.
 
Two days later against UMD, the Rangers were dialed in, shooting a blazing 60.8 percent (31-for-51) from the field while sinking 65.4 percent (17-for-26) in the second stanza. Zygimantas Riauka paced all scorers with 24 points, nailing nine of his 11 shots while Gavin and Andy Mazurczak added 20 and 13 points, respectively.
 
Riauka, a preseason All-American, paces the Rangers, averaging 17.5 points per game, 8.8 rebounds per game with nine blocks. Gavin adds 16.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 4.3 assists per game while Mazurczak contributes 10.0 ppg. Currie chips in 7.0 ppg and 5.3 rpg while Chavares Flanigan is the leading contributor off the bench, tallying 5.8 ppg.
 
About the Cavaliers: Walsh (3-0) heads to Wisconsin undefeated but only one of its wins have come against an NCAA opponent. The Cavaliers opened the regular season by crushing Silver Lake College 92-64 on Nov. 20 before outlasting Saint Joseph's College 102-88 two days later. Walsh netted another blowout on Monday, crushing Ohio Mid-Western University by a 91-54 count to close the squad's three-game homestand. Both Silver Lake and Ohio Mid-Western are members of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
 
Five Cavaliers average in double figures, led by Jesse Hardin Jr. who nets 17.7 points per game. Trey Fletcher and Rian Burrell add 16.7 and 16.3 ppg, respectively while Davonte Beard chips in 14.7 ppg and Jeff Copeland tallied 14.0 ppg. Burrell paces the Cavs on the glass, averaging 6.0 rebounds per game while Copeland adds 5.3 rpg.
 
Big Ten Battle Tested: Both the Rangers and Cavaliers opened the 2014-2015 season with a road exhibition against a Big Ten Conference squad. UW-Parkside made the short trip to the Kohl Center in Madison on Nov. 5, falling 77-40 to the powerhouse University of Wisconsin Badgers while Walsh fell 77-37 to the Ohio State University Buckeyes on Nov. 9 in Columbus.
 
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 149 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.