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

Complete NCAA Division II Tournament Bracket

UW-Parkside National Tournament History

Sunday's Bracket Announcement

NCAA Midwest Regional Info Page

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 12, 2014)-- The 22nd-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team returns to the O'Reilly Events Center looking for revenge after suffering a heartbreaking two-point loss to Drury University a little over a month ago. The Rangers will have one more crack at the defending national champions, opening up the 2014 NCAA Division II Tournament against the hosts on Saturday in Springfield, Mo.

The eighth-seeded Rangers and top-seeded Panthers tipoff at 6 p.m. inside O'Reilly Event Center in the third of four Midwest Region opening round games on Saturday. Live stats, video and audio will be provided with Mark Albanese on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

Midwest Regional Schedule: The winner of Saturday's Parkside-Drury clash will face the winner of University of Findlay-Lake Superior State University game in the regional semifinals on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. The regional finals will be contested on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. All games will be played inside the O'Reilly Event Center.

Saturday's opening round games begin at 12 p.m. with third-seed University of Southern Indiana facing sixth-seed Michigan Tech University.  Session one concludes at 2 p.m. with second-seed University of Indianapolis taking the floor against seventh-seed Bellarmine University. The late session begins at 6 p.m. with the Parkside-Drury contest with the day capping off with an 8:30 p.m. tipoff between fourth-seed Findlay and fifth-seed Lake Superior State.

Ticket Info: All-Tournament passes are $25 which gains access to all four sessions (two sessions on Saturday, Sunday's semifinals and Tuesday's championship). Single session tickets are $10 for adult reserved seating, $8 for adult general admission and $4 for students. Tickets are available at the O'Reilly Center box office (417-873-6389) or at drurytickets.com.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (23-6) secures the eighth and final spot in the NCAA Midwest Regional, capturing a bid after winning a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division crown and advancing to the semifinals of the 2014 Deaconess GLVC Tournament.

The Rangers opened the GLVC Tournament on Friday with a 79-70 victory over the University of Missouri-Saint Louis, rallying from a 14-point hole to claim the win, extending the squad's win streak to four games. UW-Parkside's tournament run came to an end the following day, suffering a 90-78 setback to Bellarmine University in the GLVC Semifinals.

Against UMSL on Friday, a sluggish start saw the Rangers staring at a 14-point deficit after just 12 minutes of play. UW-Parkside used a 13-2 run to battle back into the game and trailed 30-26 at the halftime break. The Rangers scored the first five points of the second half to claim its first lead before the two squads traded leads. UMSL built an eight-point advantage with 11:25 left but the Rangers stormed back one final time. A Jimmy Gavin layup gave Parkside the 66-64 edge with 4:46 left and the Rangers led the rest of the way en route to the nine-point victory.

Gavin had 21 points off the bench while Andy Mazurczak added 17. Jordan Mach finished with all five of the teams threes, posting 17 points with Zygimantas Riauka adding 14. The Rangers struggled from the floor in the first half before draining 64 percent (16-for-25) in the second half.

A day later against Bellarmine, the Rangers were unable to cool off the red-hot Knights who shot 60 percent (33-for-55) from the floor while outrebounding the Green and White by a 41-29 margin.

Riauka posted his 15th double-double of the season, pacing the squad with 22 points and 12 boards. Gavin added 20 points while Mach and Colt Grandstaff each adding 12.

On the season, First Team All-GLVC selection Zygimantas Riauka leads the Rangers in scoring (16.6 points per game), rebounding (9.2 per game) and blocks (51). Second Team All-GLVCer Jimmy Gavin adds 15.9 ppg and 3.1 assists per game while 2013 GLVC Freshman of the Year Andy Mazurczak adds 13.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg and a team-best 5.3 apg. Second Team All-GLVC honoree Colt Grandstaff averages 12.9 ppg, hitting 53 threes on the year while 2011 GLVC Freshman of the Year Jordan Mach adds 12.4 ppg, sinking a team-best 73 treys.

UW-Parkside ranks second in the nation in field goal percentage, hitting 52.3 percent of its shots while ranking eighth in assist to turnover ratio (1.59), 10th in total assists (511) and 13th in assists per game (17.6). Individually, Riauka ranks 13th in the nation in field goal percentage (63.9 percent) and sits 12th in double-doubles per game (15) and 21st in total rebounds (265).

Series History: UW-Parkside and Drury have met on nine occasions with the Panthers enjoying a 7-2 lead in the all-time series. The two squads last met on Feb. 13 inside the O'Reilly Center with the host Panthers prevailing 54-52 despite being held to a season-low point total. Drury utilized a cross court inbounds pass with seconds left to hit a layup for the win. Only four Rangers scored in that game with Andy Mazurczak leading the way with 18 points.

About the Panthers: Eighth-ranked Drury (25-3) enters the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed after winning the GLVC West Division title. The Panthers opened the year with a 22-1 record but have gone just 3-2 since, including narrow wins over Rockhurst University (77-73 on Feb. 22) and University of Illinois Springfield (72-64 on Mar. 7). Drury was drubbed 75-57 by the University of Southern Indiana in the GLVC Tournament semifinals on Mar. 8 inside the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., the squad's last game played.

Cameron Adams and Kameron Bundy lead the scoring charge for the Panthers, both averaging 17.5 points per game. Adams adds a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game while Bundy dishes out a team-high 3.8 assists per game. Ian Carter averages a shade under 10 points a game at 9.8 ppg while Lonnie Boga and Drake Patterson average 6.8 and 6.6 ppg.

As a team, the Panthers rank 23th nationally in both field goal percentage (50.3 percent) and three-point field goal defense (30.0 percent). Drury additionally ranks 29th in scoring margin (+9.9) and 32nd in steals per game (8.4).

The defending NCAA Division II Champions have been virtually unbeatable at home over the last two seasons, having won 23 straight home contests, including all 14 this season. The Panthers' last home setback came at the hands of UW-Parkside as the Rangers held on for a 90-88 overtime win back on Jan. 5, 2013. Over the last five seasons, the Panthers are 69-7 in Springfield, Mo.

Drury is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance, owning a 9-7 mark in the big dance. All nine of the Panthers appearances have been since 2000, making the NCAAs in 2013, 2011, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004 and 2000.

2013 Tournament Rewind: The Rangers return to the NCAA Tournament after a five-year hiatus last season, suffering an 86-75 setback to Michigan Tech in a wild affair featuring five lead changes and six ties.

Zygimantas Riauka paced the Rangers in that game with 18 points. Parkside shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor but was unable to bottle up the Huskies that shot a blazing 62.7 percent (32-for-51) from the field.

For Drury, the Panthers won the final 23 games of the season, securing the national title after rallying from a 17-point deficit to edge Metropolitan State University of Denver 74-73 on April 7 in Atlanta, Ga. DU's tournament run began with a 76-62 win over Findlay before stopping Michigan Tech 76-62 in round two. The Panthers defeated Bellarmine 67-61 in the regional final before downing University of South Carolina Aiken (84-75) and Western Washington University (107-97) to advance to the championship game.

Veteran Regional: Seven of the eight teams in the Midwest Region return from a year ago. Lake Superior State University is the lone newcomer of the group, replacing Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival and Detroit based Wayne State University.

Midwest Region in the Top 25: Six of the eight teams in the Midwest Regional appear in the Top 25 with the remaining two appearing in the others receiving votes section. Regional host Drury leads the way at No. 8 followed by UIndy and Southern Indiana at 12th and 14th, respectively. Findlay sits 21st, UW-Parkside is 22nd and Lake Superior State is 25th. Bellarmine and Michigan Tech lurk just outside the Top 25, receiving five and four votes, respectively.

GLVC in the NCAA Tournament: The GLVC has placed a team in the final four in 19 of the past 34 years, including seven national titles. The league had an 11-year run (1994-2004) of placing a team in the national title game while the GLVC has placed a team in the championship game in each of the past three seasons, including national titles by Bellarmine University in 2011 and Drury in 2013.

NCAA Division II Tournament: The Rangers are making their third trip to the NCAA Tournament (2013 and 2007) and have made seven national tournament appearances  overall, having made four consecutive trips to the NAIA Tournament in the 1970s (1978, 1977, 1976, and 1975).

Both of UW-Parkside's previous NCAA Tournament appearances resulted in first round exits, falling 70-60 to the University of Findlay in 2007 while succumbing to Michigan Tech University 86-75 last season in Springfield, Mo. Overall, the Rangers own a 5-6 record in national tournament games, advancing to the second round four times while a member of the NAIA, including one Elite Eight appearance in 1975.

Program Milestones: The 2013-2014 Ranger squad sits one win shy of tying a program record for wins. The 1974-1975 squad coached by Steve Stephens established a school record win tally, finishing its campaign with a 24-9 mark, qualifying for the NAIA Tournament and advancing to the quarterfinals. Stephens and the Rangers matched that total a year later in 1975-1976, posting a 24-7 record and returning to the NAIA Tournament.

Badger State in the Big Dance: While Parkside is currently Wisconsin's only Division II that wasn't always the case. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and University of Wisconsin-Superior have all made appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Badger State squads are a combined 16-14 in the tournament with Green Bay recording three final four appearances in 1978, 1979, and 1981.

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 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, 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.

80-Point Club: UW-Parkside heads into Saturday averaging 82.6 points per game and has scored at least 80 points in 17 of the 29 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.

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 145 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.