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

SOMERS, Wis. (Dec. 30, 2014)-- The two-time defending Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Champion University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad opens up league play this week, hitting the road to face West Division foes Truman State University and Quincy University.
 
The Rangers and Bulldogs tipoff GLVC play on Friday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Kirksville, Missouri before UW-Parkside crosses the Mississippi River to face Quincy on Sunday, Jan. 4 at 3 p.m. Live stats and audio will be provided for both games with Mark Albanese on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin. Truman State will additionally offer a live video feed.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (8-1) begins GLVC action riding a four-game win streak, closing out the calendar year with home non-conference victories over Upper Iowa University and Michigan Tech University.
 
Against Upper Iowa on Dec. 16, the host Rangers owned a 43-31 rebounding advantage and out-duked the Peacocks by a 41-26 margin in points in the paint to secure the 83-67 win. UW-Parkside trailed early in the opening half with UIU enjoying an 11-10 lead five minutes into the game. Back-to-back threes from Jordan Mach and Mohamed Mohamed tipped the scales in favor of the Rangers and the Green and White never trailed the rest of the way, owning a 39-33 edge at the halftime intermission.
 
Zygimantas Riauka netted a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 12 boards while Jimmy Gavin, Andy Mazurczak and Mach all finished in double figures.
 
Against Michigan Tech on Dec. 20 the Rangers utilized a 9-2 run over the final three minutes, breaking a 60-60 deadlock and securing the 69-62 win. The familiar foes who have met four times over the past three seasons, including one showdown in the NCAA Tournament, traded leads 15 times while the score was tied on eight occasions in the see-saw affair.
 
Mach paced Parkside against the Huskies, collecting 14 points while Gavin and Riauka added 13 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Riauka leads the Rangers on the season in points (17.4 per game), rebounds (8.9 per game), blocks (18) and assists (4.1 per game) while sinking 61.3 percent of his shots from the field. Gavin adds 16.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 3.1 apg while hitting 35.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. 2013 GLVC Freshman of the Year Andy Mazurczak tallies 11.6 ppg while Mach, the 2011 winner of the same award, adds 9.1 ppg, canning 41.5 percent of his chances from the perimeter.
 
As a team, the Green and White average 79.3 points per game and outscore opponents by an average of 15.7 points while shooting 52 percent from the field.
 
Jan. 2 vs Truman State University at Pershing Arena (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Bulldogs have met just twice with each team owning one win in the all-time series. UW-Parkside dominated Truman last season on Jan. 5 inside DeSimone Gymnasium, crusing to the 78-57 win. The Rangers owned a five-point edge at the break but used a 37-7 spurt in the second half to put away the visiting Bulldogs as Gavin netted 22 points in just 24 minutes of action.
 
About the Bulldogs: Truman State (8-2, 1-0 GLVC) heads into Friday boasting a seven game win streak and is 17-2 over the past two seasons inside the friendly confines of Pershing Arena. The Bulldogs dropped two of their first three games of the year, defeating Lake Superior State University 82-65 on Nov. 14 before succumbing to both Trevecca Nazarene University (Nov. 15) and Northern State University (Nov. 23) on the road by identical 76-74 scores.
 
The Bulldogs have rebounded from the skid with a seven game streak, eclipsing the century mark against Lincoln Christian College on Dec. 4 (109-44) and Faith Baptist College on Dec. 15 (110-54) while rolling GLVC travel partner Quincy 91-76 on Dec. 6.
 
Seth Jackson powers the Truman offense, pouring on 21.5 points per game in the eight contests he has played this season while averaging 3.9 rebounds per game. Reed Mells adds 14.0 ppg while Isaac Gardner chips in 9.2 ppg.
 
Jan. 4 vs Quincy University at Pepsi Arena (Live Stats)(Audio)
 
Series History: Parkside and Quincy have clashed 45 times on the hardwood with the Hawks owning a 35-10 edge in the all-time series. The Rangers won last year's encounter 73-71, erasing 19-point deficit to open GLVC play on Jan. 3 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Hawks: Quincy (6-5, 0-1 GLVC) heads into the weekend having won two of its last three regular season contests. The Hawks crushed Robert Morris University-Springfield 101-68 on Dec. 16 before edging Tiffin University 77-76 four days later. QU was upended 95-78 to former GLVC member Kentucky Wesleyan College on Dec. 21 in the team's last regular season contest. Quincy was back on the hardwood on Monday night, falling 99-57 to Illinois State University in an exhibition in Normal, Illinois.
 
All six of Quincy's wins this season have come inside the Pepsi Center where the Hawks sport a 6-3 mark this year.
 
Scottie Bruxvoort leads the Hawks in scoring, coming off the bench and averaging 13.3 points per game in the eight games he has appeared in. Evan McGaughey adds 11.4 ppg and a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game while Godson Eneogwe chips in 10.3 ppg and 5.2 rpg. Thomas Jackson is the fourth Hawk averaging in double figures, contributing 10.2 ppg and a team-leading 3.4 assists per game.
 
Non-Conference Mastery: The Rangers wrapped up its regular season non-league slate with an 8-1 mark, posting a winning mark outside of the GLVC for the fourth consecutive season. Parkside owned a 7-1 regular season non-conference record in 2013-2014 while posting a 5-3 mark in 2012-2013 and a 7-1 record in 2011-2012. Over the past four seasons the Green and White have a 27-6 record in regular season non-conference clashes.
 
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 16 of their last 17 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 153 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.