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

Official 2014 Deaconess GLVC Tournament Info Page

SOMERS, Wis. (Mar. 8, 2014)-- The 19th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team rolls into the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament for the second straight season, outlasting University of Missouri-Saint Louis 79-70 on Friday to set up a late night showdown with Bellarmine University inside the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.

The 19th-ranked Rangers and Knights are the final semifinal game on Saturday inside the Ford Center with an 8:30 p.m. tipoff.  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.

About the Rangers: GLVC East Division Champion UW-Parkside (23-5) sits one win shy of tying a school record for wins, overcoming a 14-point deficit on Friday night to down UMSL 79-70 for win number 23 on the season. The Tritons seized the early advantage, owning a 10-point cushion after 10 minutes of play before securing a 14-point buffer with 7:07 left in the first half.

UW-Parkside closed within three thanks to a 13-2 run and trailed 30-26 at the halftime intermission. The second half saw the lead exchange hands nine times. UW-Parkside tallied the first five points of the half to grab its first lead but UMSL fought back, building an eight-point buffer with just over 10 minutes left. The Rangers battled back, tying the game on three Colt Grandstaff free throws before securing the lead for good on a Jimmy Gavin layup with 4:46 left.

Gavin led the Rangers off the bench, scoring 21 points while Andy Mazurczak and Jordan Mach each finished with 17. Mazurczak was a perfect nine-for-nine at the charity stripe while Mach was dangerous from the perimeter, canning all five of the team's three-pointers.

Parkside, winners of four in a row, are led by First Team All-GLVC selection Zygimantas Riauka. Riauka enters Saturday's clash leading the team in scoring (16.5 points per game), rebounding (9.0 per game), blocks (53) and field goal percentage (64.1 percent). All-GLVC Second Teamer Jimmy Gavin adds 16.1 ppg off the bench while Mazurczak adds 13.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg and 5.1 assists per game.  Second Team All-GLVC honoree Colt Grandstaff adds 12.7 ppg while Mach averages 12.6 ppg. Both Grandstaff and Mach are threats from the outside, combining to hit 131 of the team's 203 three-pointers in 2013-2014.

Series History: UW-Parkside and Bellarmine have tangled 33 times on the hardwood with the Knights enjoying a 25-8 advantage in the all-time series. The Rangers have won the last two by a combined four points. Parkside prevailed 74-72 on Feb. 16, 2013 inside DeSimone Gymnasium while escaping with a 76-74 win over the then seventh-ranked Knights on Jan. 23.

Jimmy Gavin had a career-high 30 points in the last encounter. UW-Parkside owned a 16-point advantage before needing a strong defensive finish to hold on for the win.

About the Knights: Bellarmine (22-6) heads into Saturday's clash having won its last two games. The Knights began the tournament with an 82-69 win over William Jewell College on Mar. 2 inside Knights Hall before leading wire-to-wire in a 90-74 win over No. 8 University of Indianapolis on Friday in the quarterfinals.

Five players finished in double figures for Bellarmine on Friday with Vance Hall pacing the squad with 26 points. Jake Thelen added 16 with George Suggs and Josh Derksen adding 15 and 13, respectively.

Keisten Jones leads the Knights, averaging 15.8 points per game. Jake Thelen tallied 15.2 ppg and a team-best 7.3 rebounds per game while Vance Hall adds 14.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg and a team-high 134 assists. George Suggs averages 9.6 ppg while Josh Derksen adds 9.1 ppg off the bench.

Scorching the Nets: Saturday's showdown features the nation's two best shooting teams. Bellarmine leads the nation in that category, shooting 53.1 percent on the season while the Rangers rank second, shooting 52.6 percent from the floor.

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 Sweet 16. Stephens and the Rangers matched that total a year later in 1975-1976, posting a 24-7 record and returning to the NAIA Tournament.

Rest of the Tournament: The Tournament started on Mar. 2 with 12 teams and is now down to four after Friday's quarterfinal round. University of Southern Indiana outclassed Lewis University 92-74 to open the day before top-seeded Drury University survived a scare from the University of Illinois Springfield as the Panthers prevailed 72-64. UW-Parkside rallied past UMSL 79-70 while Bellarmine capped off the night with a 90-74 win over the University of Indianapolis. The winner of today's semifinals will meet on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for the GLVC Championship.

NCAA Division II Tournament: The NCAA selection committee will reveal the 2014 NCAA Division II Tournament bracket on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. in a live webcast available on NCAA.com. The Rangers have made two trips to the NCAA Tournament (2012-2013 and 2006-2007) and have made six national tournament appearances  overall, having made four consecutive trips to the NAIA Tournament in the 1970s (1977-1978, 1976-1977, 1975-1976, and 1974-1975).

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.

GLVC in the Top 25: The GLVC continues to boast five teams in the NABC Top 25, including two squads among the Top 10. GLVC West Champion Drury University is ranked fourth nationally while East Division Co-Champion University of Indianapolis is eighth. UW-Parkside jumped five spots to No. 19 with the University of Southern Indiana and Lewis University ranking 20th and 23rd, respectively.

80-Point Club: UW-Parkside heads into Saturday averaging 82.8 points per game and has scored at least 80 points in 17 of the 28 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.

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.