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

Box Score

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 8, 2014)-- Dominating the second half of play, the 20th-ranked and Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division-leading University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad rolled past Rockhurst University 76-63 on Saturday afternoon inside DeSimone Gymnasium, pleasing the Alumni Day crowd of 1,767. Jimmy Gavin collected 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes of play, helping the Rangers maintain a one-game advantage in the league standings.

In a volatile contest with 10 lead changes, the Rangers (19-3, 12-1 GLVC) utilized a 23-6 surge midway through the second half to turn six-point deficit into an 11-point advantage, paving the way to the squad's 10-consecutive home win. Mohamed Mohamed instigated the run with a tip-in basket off a misfired three-pointer. Andy Mazurczak tied the game with a layup with 12:16 left before giving the Rangers the lead for good the next possession with another basket. Gavin capped off the spurt with a layup to extended the UW-Parkside lead to double digits. Parkside led by at least nine points the final five minutes in the 13-point win.

The contest was tied 18-18 with 8:04 left in the first half before UW-Parkside scored 12 of the next 16 to secure a 30-22 lead just four minutes later. A resilient Rockhurst (5-15, 1-12 GLVC) team didn't back down, reclaiming the lead with a 13-1 run over the next three minutes. The Hawks' Nardie Bogues finished the rally with a three with 43 seconds left, spotting the visitors a four-point lead. A Colt Grandtsaff layup as time expired cut the Rockhurst advantage to just two points at the intermission at 35-33.

Rockhurst saw its advantage quickly dissipate in the second half with a Zygimantas Riauka layup reclaiming the lead for UW-Parkside but the Hawks stormed back, taking a six-point buffer with 14:55 left off a Bogues trey.

Gavin led all scorers with 23 points, finishing eight-for-12 from the field and a perfect five-for-five from the charity stripe. The sophomore slashed through the Rockhurst defense for 15 points in the second half. Mazurczak added 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Riauka was one-rebound shy of his 12th double-double, collecting 17 points and nine boards. Grandstaff was the fourth Ranger in double figures, chipping in 10 points.

Bogues led Rockhurst with 19 points with Cooper Beckett adding 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

UW-Parkside shot an even 50 percent (29-for-58) for the game, including a scorching 60 percent (18-for-30) in the second half while limiting Rockhurst to just 39.3 percent (24-for-61). The Rangers dominated inside with a 40-20 edge in points in the paint while owning a 15-8 edge in second chance scoring. UW-Parkside has now won 15 of its last 16 GLVC games inside DeSimone Gymnasium a stretch that includes seven wins over ranked teams and four wins over Top 10 squads.

Parkside hits the road next week, heading to Springfield, Mo., on Thursday where the East Division-leading Rangers will tango with GLVC West Division leading Drury University.