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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 11, 2014)-- Divisional leaders will clash this week as the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Leading University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad closes out interdivisional play against a pair of Show Me State rivals. The nationally-ranked Rangers square off against West Division Leading Drury University on Thursday night before closing the trip against Missouri University S&T on Saturday afternoon.

The 16th-ranked Rangers begin the road trip on Thursday night in Springfield, Mo., tipping off against defending national champion Drury at 7:45 p.m. before finishing the trip in Rolla on Saturday in a 3 p.m. start against Missouri S&T. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Mark Albanese will be providing the play-by-play on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (19-3, 12-1 GLVC) packs its bags for the final two-game road swing of the season after downing a pair of West Division squads last week inside DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers began the week by outlasting William Jewell College 90-80 on Thursday before downing Rockhurst University 76-63 in front of 1,767 fans on Alumni Day.

Against Jewell, the Rangers surged out of the gate with the first 10 points of the game but the visiting Cardinals fought back. UW-Parkside led 46-45 at the halftime intermission and trailed by six with just over 15 minutes left before finally taking control and earning the 10-point win.

Jordan Mach was dialed in from distance, canning five three-pointers and collecting a game-high 23 points while Jimmy Gavin finished with 16 points, with all but two coming in the second half.

Two days later, the Rangers utilized a dominating second half performance to down Rockhurst and collect the squad's 10th straight home victory.

The game was a back and forth affair with 10 lead changes before the Rangers mounted a 23-6 run midway through the second half, turning a six-point hole into an 11-point cushion. Parkside owned at least a nine-point edge the rest of the way in route to the 76-63 win.

Gavin came off the bench and paced the Green and White with 23 points while Andy Mazurczak and Zygimantas Riauka added 19 and 17 points, respectively.

On the season, Riauka leads the Rangers in several statistical categories, including scoring (16.2 points per game), rebounding (9.2 per game), field goal percentage (64.3 percent) and blocks (45). Gavin has been a big presence off the bench, adding 15.7 ppg while Colt Grandstaff offers 13.6 ppg. Jordan Mach has sunk a team-high 60 threes on the season and adds 13.1 ppg while 2013 GLVC Freshman of the Year Andy Mazurczak collects 12.6 ppg.

UW-Parkside leads the nation in field goal percentage, sinking 52.8 percent of its shots while ranking among the Top 25 nationally in four more statistical categories. The Rangers check in at sixth nationally and first in the GLVc in assists per game (18.7) while sit seventh in both assist to turnover ratio (1.64) and total assists (412). Parkside ranks 24th nationally and fourth in the GLVC in scoring margin, owning a +12.1 advantage.

Feb. 13 vs. Drury University at O'Reilly Family Event Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: UW-Parkside and Drury have met eight times with the Panthers owning a 6-2 edge in the all-time series. The Rangers won the last meeting 90-88 in overtime on Jan. 5, 2013 in Springfield. The Panthers lost just one more game all season en route to a GLVC Tournament Championship and an NCAA title. In last year's showdown, the Rangers led by as many as 20 points but needed the final seven points of regulation to force an overtime session. In OT, it was Conrad Krutwig emerging as the hero, hitting a three with seven seconds left for the win.

About the Panthers: Second-ranked Drury (20-1, 12-1 GLVC) heads into Thursday with a two-game buffer atop the GLVC West standings and is riding a nine-game win streak. The Panthers lone setback this season was an 85-77 loss to Bellarmine University on Jan. 9 in Louisville, Ky. Since then the Panthers have been unstoppable, rattling off nine in a row including a pair of wins last week over McKendree University (78-74) and University of Illinois Springfield (66-59).

Leading the Panthers scoring efforts is Kameron Bundy, who enters Thursday averaging 18.4 points per game. Cameron Adams adds 17.1 ppg and a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game while Ian Carter tallied 10.3 ppg and 5.5 rpg.

Drury has won 21 straight games inside the O'Reilly Center with UW-Parkside the last team to leave the arena with a win. The Panthers are 12-0 at home this season and own a 67-7 record in Springfield over the past five seasons.

The defending national champions rank in the Top 25 in four statistical categories. Drury ranks fourth nationally and third in the GLVC in field goal percentage (52.3 percent), ninth in three-point field goal percentage (41.9 percent), 16th in three-point field goal defense (30.2 percent) and 18th in scoring margin (+12.5). The Panthers lead the league in both three-point field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage defense.

Feb. 15 vs. Missouri University S&T at Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Miners have met nine times with UW-Parkside owning a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series. UW-Parkside opened up GLVC play last season by pounding S&T 72-50 on Jan. 3, 2013 in Rolla, Mo.

About the Miners: Missouri S&T (9-12, 4-9 GLVC) heads into Thursday's game against Lewis University looking to snap a four-game slide. The Miners' woes began on Jan. 30, falling 109-105 in overtime to host Truman State University and have since suffered setbacks to Quincy University (93-77) on Feb. 1, Illinois Springfield (85-75) on Feb. 6 and McKendree University (106-99) on Feb. 8.

Bryce Foster leads the Miners, averaging 22.0 points per game while securing 7.1 rebounds per game. Foster is the second leading scorer in the GLVC and ranks 13th nationally. Foster is additionally one of just seven players in Division II to notch a triple-double this season. Mudi Eruteya tallied 17.8 ppg and 7.9 rpg while Nustrath Kahn adds 14.2 ppg. Eruteya leads the GLVC and ranks eighth nationally in steals with 2.52 per game.

Missouri S&T ranks fifth nationally in scoring offense, leading the GLVC with 90.6 points per game while ranking 10th nationally and first in the league in steals with 9.4 per game.

10 in a Row: UW-Parkside's 10-0 mark in January sets a program record for consecutive GLVC wins and surpassing last season's nine-game win streak. The 2012-2013 Rangers rattled off nine in a row last season en route to an East Division title. Last year's run began on Jan. 24 and lasted until Feb. 23. That stretch, saw the Rangers knock off six ranked opponents, including then third-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Home Cooking: UW-Parkside has won 15 of its last 16 GLVC games inside DeSimone Gymnasium. That stretch includes seven wins over nationally-ranked opponents and four wins over Top 10 teams.

Rangers in the Top 25: Jordan Mach, Andy Mazurczak and Zygimantas Riauka all rank in the top 25 nationally in statistical categories. Mach sits 22nd nationally and second in the GLVC in three-point field goal attempts (156) while Mazurczak is 19th in assist to turnover ratio (3.0). Riauka checks in at 12th in field goal percentage (64.3 percent), 13th in double-doubles (11) and 22nd in total rebounds (203).

20-Win Club: The Rangers sit one win shy of eclipsing the 20-win barrier for the second consecutive season. UW-Parkside hasn't had back-to-back 20-win campaigns since the squad 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. Parkside has never had consecutive 20-win seasons since joining NCAA Division II in 1995.

GLVC in the Top 25: The GLVC has five teams currently ranked in the NABC Division II Top 25 Poll, including UW-Parkside, who appears in the poll for the third straight week. Drury University leads the way at No. 2 followed by Indianapolis at No. 5, UW-Parkside at No. 16, Lewis University at No. 19 and University of Southern Indiana at No. 22. Truman State University sits just outside the Top 25 in the others receiving votes section.

80-Point Club: UW-Parkside heads into Thursday averaging 83.7 points per game and has scored at least 80 points in 14 of the 22 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 for the 2013-2014 season. 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.

GLVC Tournament: The top 12 teams qualify for the 2014 Deaconess GLVC Tournament with the top four squads all receiving first round byes. The first round will be conducted on Sunday, March 2, with the top-seeded teams not receiving byes hosting on-campus. The GLVC Quarterfinals and beyond begin on March 6 inside the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. To pre-order session passes, visiting the UW-Parkside athletic department office.

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 141 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.