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

Box Score

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 22, 2014)-- The 25th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad tallied its 12th consecutive win inside DeSimone Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon, pleasing the crowd of 1,385 with an 83-74 victory over Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival University of Illinois Springfield.

The opening 20 minutes saw three ties and six lead changes with the Rangers (21-5, 14-3 GLVC) and Prairie Stars (8-17, 4-13 GLVC) heading to the locker room at the half tied up at 32-32. Illinois Springfield scored the opening bucket and posted a 13-7 lead with 14:43 left. UW-Parkside answered with the next 10 points to secure a 17-13 advantage with 9:02 remaining. UIS tied the game at 17 before the Rangers reclaimed the lead, owning a six-point buffer with 4:28 until half off a Jordan Mach three-pointer. Illinois Springfield battled back, seizing the lead with 2:35 left. Parkside retook the lead with a Colt Grandstaff three before the squad's settled for a 32-32 deadlock at the break as UIS's Wes Koral hit a layup as time expired.

The Prairie Stars tallied the first basket of the second half to grab the lead but UW-Parkside used a 12-0 run to claim a double-digit lead. The Ranger lead ballooned to 14 with 12:48 left off another Mach three but UIS wasn't willing to go away, crawling back into the contest and pulling within a possession at 58-55 with 10:31 left before getting with a point at 61-60 with 6:55 remaining.

UW-Parkside extended its lead back up to six points off an Andy Mazurczak jumper with 5:06 left but UIS narrowed the game to a possession again at 74-72 with 2:12 remaining. Exhibiting their clutch skills down the stretch, the Rangers closed the game on a 9-2 run, securing the nine-point victory and extending the teams' home win streak to 12 games overall and 15 in a row in GLVC play.

Jimmy Gavin came off the bench and paced the Rangers, scoring 21 points while Mach buried five threes to tally 19 points. Zygimantas Riauka registered his 14th double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and collecting 12 boards while Mazurczak added 11 points and six assists. Colt Grandstaff, the squad's lone senior was honored in a pregame ceremony. Playing in his 81st career game with the Rangers, the Arizona native scored seven points while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Brandon Snowden led the Prairie Stars with 19 points while Dusko Despot and Mark weems added 14 and 11 points, respectively.

UW-Parkside finished the game shooting 56 percent (28-for-50) from the floor, including a blazing 69.6 percent (16-for-23) in the second half while draining 41.7 percent (10-for-24) of shots from three-point range.

Parkside closes out the regular season on Thursday night, heading to Romeoville, Ill. to face Lewis University at 7:30 p.m.