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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 14, 2015)-- Undefeated after two weekends of Great Lakes Valley Conference action for the third consecutive season, the two-time defending GLVC East Division Champion and 22nd-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad opens the lid on divisional play this week, hosting a pair of foes from the State of Illinois.
 
The Rangers host the University of Illinois Springfield on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. inside DeSimone Gymnasium and face McKendree University on Saturday at 3 p.m. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Steve Kratochvil will provide the play-by-play while Jim Kramer will add color commentary on the audio feed available online and over the airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (11-1, 4-0 GLVC) is off to its best start in program history and heads into East Division play riding an eight-game win streak. The Rangers claimed a pair of victories by double-digit margins last week, beginning with a 70-56 win over Maryville University on Jan. 8 before finishing off University of Missouri-Saint Louis 76-61 two days later.
 
Against Maryville, the Rangers never trailed, building a 10-point lead at the halftime intermission. UW-Parkside extended its lead to as many as 19 points but the Saints managed to slice the lead to just four points with 3:41 left. The Rangers responded with a 10-0 run to increase the lead back to double digits and held on for the 14-point win.
 
Zygimantas Riauka notched his sixth double-double of the year, netting 17 points with nine boards while Mohamed Mohamed and Jimmy Gavin added 16 and 15 points, respectively.
 
Against UMSL, the Tritons utilized a 12-2 run to pull within a possession with 11:39 left but the Rangers countered as a Mohamed three and baskets from Jimmy Gavin and Andy Mazurczak pushed the home team's advantage back up to double digits. The Rangers maintained an eight-point cushion the rest of the way, claiming their eighth straight win.
 
Mazurcak led all scorers with 22 points while dishing out five assists while Gavin and Riauka added 18 and 14 points, apiece.
 
Riauka leads the Rangers in several statistical categories, heading into Thursday averaging 17.1 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game with 23 blocks while shooting 58.4 percent from the field. Gavin adds 16.5 ppg, 3.1 apg, 4.5 rpg and 1.8 steals per game while Mazurczak tallies 12.2 ppg. Jordan Mach averages 8.4 ppg and has drained a team-best 29 threes while Mohamed has been a spark off the bench, adding 6.8 ppg while shooting 45.2 percent from beyond the arc.
 
As a team, the Rangers rank second in the GLVC in scoring defense, allowing just 63.3 points per game and sit third in the conference in scoring margin (+14.7), rebounding margin (+6.7) and field goal percentage (50.1 percent).
 
Jan. 15 vs. University of Illinois Springfield at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Prairie Stars have met nine times on the hardwood with Parkside holding the upper hand with six wins in the all-time series. The Rangers claimed both contests last season, erasing a 10-point deficit to bite host UIS 94-81 on Jan. 16 before earning the sweep on Feb. 22 with an 83-74 win inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (6-6, 0-4 GLVC) heads to DeSimone Gymnasium looking to bust a five-game slump, having gone winless so far in 2015.
 
The Prairie Stars opened the season by winning six of their first seven games, with the lone setback a 72-63 defeat at the hands of host Lindenwood University on Nov. 28. UIS edged Saint Catherine College 97-94 on Dec. 12 before stumbling 80-61 to Kentucky Wesleyan College to close out the non-conference slate on Dec. 14.
 
GLVC play has not been kind to UIS, suffering blowouts to the Saint Louis clubs, falling 71-45 to Missouri-Saint Louis on Jan. 2 before faltering 76-50 to Maryville on Jan. 4. The Prairie Star woes continued with an 87-76 loss to Quincy University on Jan. 9 before suffering a heartbreaking one point loss to Truman State University on Saturday, falling 59-58.
 
Jamall Millison is the Prairie Stars top offensive threat, averaging 13.2 points per game while Mark Weems adds 12.4 ppg and 4.7 rebounds per game. Dylan Sparkman is the third UIS student-athlete averaging in double figures, netting 11.2 ppg and a team-leading 6.2 rpg. Davi Austin and Vince Walker chip in 8.3 ppg apiece while Kentrell King distributes 4.7 assists per game.
 
Jan. 17 vs. McKendree University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Bearcats have met five times in the all-time series with UW-Parkside winning all five occasions. The Rangers swept the series in 2013-2014, claiming a pair of four-point wins. UW-Parkside held off host McKendree 75-71 on Jan. 18 in Lebanon, Illinois before collecting an 84-80 win on Jan. 20 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (8-4, 1-3 GLVC) heads into the weekend riding a two-game win streak. The Bearcats opened a three-game homestand on Jan. 8, falling 75-71 to Truman State before rebounding two days later with an 88-84 win over Quincy. McKendree closed the homestand on Tuesday night, netting a 75-62 non-conference win over Salem International University.  
 
Four Bearcats average in double figures with Logan Carson leading the way with 15.4 points per game and 3.0 assists per game. Brandon Book chips in 15.2 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game while Matt Holmes adds 12.3 ppg and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game. Michael Jackson chips in 11.3 ppg with Arthur Williams adding 9.1 ppg coming off the bench.
 
NABC Poll: The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its seventh installment of the NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll on Tuesday with three GLVC squads appearing in the rankings. UW-Parkside moves into the poll for the first time this season, debuting at No. 22 while the University of Indianapolis and Bellarmine University climbed up two spots each to third and fourth, respectively.
 
This is the 16th week the Rangers have appeared in the NABC Top 25, with 13 of those occasions coming in the past three seasons. UW-Parkside highest ever ranking was 13th for two weeks during the 2012-2013 season.
 
GLVC Januarys: The Rangers open conference play 4-0 for the third straight season. The Green and White rattled off 10 straight wins before suffering its first league setback in 2013-2014 while collecting four straight to open the 2012-2013 slate. The hot start in both seasons ended up paying dividends for UW-Parkside, later going on to hoist the GLVC East Division crown in both years.
 
December to Remember: The Rangers capped off the final month of 2014 with a perfect 4-0 record. UW-Parkside opened the month with a 91-79 win over in-state foe Cardinal Stritch University on Dec. 3 before blowing out Silver Lake College 89-51 the next day. The Rangers bested Upper Iowa University 83-67 on Dec. 16 and closed the month with a 69-62 win over Michigan Tech University on Dec. 20 in the final non-conference game of the season.
 
Hot Start: UW-Parkside is 12-1 for the first time in program history. The 2001-2002 squad under the direction of Jeff Rutter opened up the year with a 9-1 mark before falling to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Edgewood College in back-to-back games.
 
Non-Conference Mastery: The Rangers wrapped up its regular season non-league slate with an 8-1 mark, posting a winning mark outside of the GLVC for the fourth consecutive season. Parkside owned a 7-1 regular season non-conference record in 2013-2014 while posting a 5-3 mark in 2012-2013 and a 7-1 record in 2011-2012. Over the past four seasons the Green and White have a 27-6 record in regular season non-conference clashes.
 
Starting 13: Through 13 games the Rangers have utilized just one starting lineup, trotting out
Zygimantas Riauka, Jimmy Gavin, Andy Mazurczak, Jordan Mach, and Jalen Currie every game this season.  
 
Record Book Watch: Seniors Jordan Mach and Zygimantas Riauka continue to climb up the charts in several career statistical categories. Mach has 215 three-pointers in his career and sits 28 shy from tying Andy Schmidtmann (1986-1990) for the top spot while Riauka is sixth on the all-time list in rebounds (654) and 13th all-time in scoring (1,264). Mach additionally sits 10 points shy of eclipsing the 1,000-point barrier for his career.
 
Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2014-2015, retaining the setup of two divisions with two pods of four. Pod mates will play each other in a home and home series and play all other opponents once. UW-Parkside's pod includes University of Illinois Springfield, McKendree University and Lewis University.

Preseason Prognostications: Despite winning the GLVC East Division in each of the last two seasons, the Rangers were picked fourth in the annual GLVC Coaches' Poll.
 
UW-Parkside garnered 90 total points, including two first-place endorsements to secure fourth in the GLVC East. Bellarmine University is the division's favorite for the second straight season, amassing 102 points and six first place votes. Lewis University is slotted at No. 2 in the East with five first place votes and 96 points while East Co-Champion University of Indianapolis is third with 93 points and three first place nods.
 
Defending GLVC Tournament Champion University of Southern Indiana is fifth with 79 points followed by the University of Illinois Springfield in sixth (39 points), Saint Joseph's College in seventh (36 points) with McKendree University occupying the cellar with 33 points.
 
In the West Division, 2013 National Champion Drury University collected 120 points, securing 15 first place votes. University of Missouri-Saint Louis scooped up the lone remaining first place endorsement, securing 95 total points to claim the No. 2 spot. Quincy University with 79 points and Truman State University with 77 points round out the upper half of the West in third and fourth, respectively.
 
Maryville University occupies the fifth spot with 72 points followed by William Jewell College in sixth (53 points), Missouri University S&T in seventh (42 points) and Rockhurst University in eighth (30 points).
 
Home Cooking: UW-Parkside has won 19 of its last 20 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 18 of their last 19 games at home.

20-Win Club: The Rangers eclipsed the 20-win barrier for the second consecutive season in 2013-2014, 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.
 
Alumni Day: The UW-Parkside Alumni Association's annual Alumni Day at the Games will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31. Alumni, friends and family are invited to attend with giveaways and complimentary food for alumni throughout the day. The cost is $10 per alumni with guests attending free of charge. To register visit: https://donate.uwp.edu/alumniday or contact University Advancement at 262-595-2039.

Reigel's Rangers: Head Coach Luke Reigel begins his 12th season as head coach and his 15th season overall at UW-Parkside in 2014-2015.

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 157 wins and has guided the Rangers to three NCAA Tournament berths.

Returning to the sidelines will be associate coach Keven Bradley and assistant Tom Reigel while Andy Fitzgerald joins the staff as assistant from Edgewood College.