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

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Mar. 15, 2014)-- A staunch defensive effort was not enough to fend off the region's top seed as the 22nd-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team fell 69-64 to eighth-ranked Drury University on Saturday night inside the O'Reilly Event Center in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Division II Tournament. Zygimantas Riauka paced the Rangers with a double-double as four UW-Parkside players ended the night in double figures.

The eight-seed Rangers (23-7) trailed 33-26 at the halftime break in a wild opening half featuring seven lead changes and three ties. UW-Parkside tallied the game's opening points before the top-seeded and host Panthers (26-3) staked a 9-5 edge just under seven minutes into the contest.

UW-Parkside collected 12 of the next 13 points to secure a game-high seven point advantage at 17-10 with 9:17 remaining. Defense paved the way for the Rangers in the opening 11 minutes, forcing eight Drury turnovers during the stretch en route to the seven-point buffer. Jimmy Gavin accounted for six of the squad's 12 points during the run.

The Panthers clawed back into the game briefly claiming the lead before a Jordan Mach trey gave Parkside the 26-23 edge with 3:56 left before intermission. Drury tallied the final 10 points of the half, part of a larger 19-3 spurt spanning both halves to stake a 42-29 lead with 15:02 left.

Drury's lead mushroomed to 15 with 8:25 left before the Rangers fought back, mounting a 22-9 spurt over the next eight minutes to pull within four at 65-61 with 13 ticks left. Four straight free throws by Lonnie Boga pushed the Panther lead to eight before a Colt Grandstaff three with one second left cut the gap to the final five-point margin.

"Drury is one of the premier programs in the country. We battled but we didn't make enough plays on offense. Two of our worst performances on the year came here and there's a reason for that," said head coach Luke Reigel.

Riauka led the Rangers, notching his 16th double-double with 16 points and 15 boards. 12 of the forward's 16 points came in the second half while also logging four blocks and a pair of steals. Andy Mazurczak had an ironman day on the court, playing 38 minutes and scoring 11 points while Grandstaff tallied 11 points in his final collegiate game, closing his career with 826 points and 238 rebounds. Gavin logged 37 minutes and scored 10 points with nine boards while distributing five assists.

Cameron Adams led all scorers with 19 points while DU's Kameron Bundy added 14. Drury, the defending national champions, will face the winner of the University of Findlay-Lake Superior State University game on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m.

"I told the guys in the locker room. I don't know if I've had a kid grow up more in three years. Colt (Grandstaff) is a true leader of the program. He's a great all-league defender, he scores points, and does a lot of things. what we're going to miss is every day in practice in every drill he goes hard. If you can't learn from that you can't learn from anybody. He does the right thing even when the coaches aren't around."

UW-Parkside, ranked second nationally in field goal percentage, hit just 29.7 percent (23-for-58) on the night while the Panthers hit 41.1 percent (24-for-58).

"We exceeded a lot of people's expectations this year. We were picked fifth in the (GLVC East) division and graduated the player of the year but the team still believed we could win the league. We have so many things to be proud of. I'm very proud of them. They're a great group of men and represent the University well."

Parkside claimed its second consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division crown in 2013-2014 while making its third NCAA Tournament appearance. The Rangers set a school record with a 15-3 mark in conference action while logging the most wins in a season since 1976.