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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 7, 2015)-- Off to its best start in program history, the two-time defending Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Champion University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team opens up a four-game homestand this week, welcoming West Division foes Maryville University and the University of Missouri-Saint Louis to DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
The Rangers, winners of six straight, begin the homestand on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Maryville before hosting UMSL 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 (10-1, 2-0 GLVC) collected a pair of road wins last week to open conference play and return home with its best start in program history, eclipsing a 9-1 start from the 2001-2002 squad coached by Jeff Rutter.
 
The Rangers extended its win streak to six last week, downing Truman State University 77-69 on Jan. 2 before taking down Quincy University 77-64 on Sunday.
 
Against Truman, the Rangers utilized a balanced attack that saw five players end the night in double figures. UW-Parkside enjoyed a 41-31 lead at the halftime break but saw its buffer whittled to just a point with 7:38 left in the game. The Rangers poured on the next nine points and led by at least five the rest of the way en route to the win in the GLVC opener.
 
Zygimantas Riauka led the Rangers with 17 points and 14 boards while Mohamed Mohamed chipped in 16 points off the bench. Jordan Mach and Jimmy Gavin contributed 11 points each with Andy Mazurczak adding 10.
 
Against Quincy, the Rangers mounted a 19-2 run stretching across each half and closed the game on an 8-2 run to complete the weekend road sweep. Mazurczak and Gavin each finished with 18 points while Riauka netted another double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds and on Monday was named the GLVC Player of the Week. The Rangers were perfect at the charity stripe on Sunday afternoon, sinking all 20 of their attempts.
 
On the year, Riauka leads the Rangers in scoring (17.4 points per game), rebounding (9.7 per game), assists (3.5 per game) and blocks while Gavin averages 16.5 ppg. Mazurczak tallies 12.0 ppg while Mach averages 9.2 ppg while leading the team from beyond the arc with 27 threes in 2014-2015. Mohamed and Kendale McCullum lead the Rangers off the bench, adding 5.5 and 5.4 ppg, respectively.
 
Jan. 8 vs. Maryville University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Saints have met just four times with UW-Parkside winning three of those encounters. Last season the Rangers led wire-to-wire, escaping Moloney Arena on Jan. 11 with a decisive 84-63 win over host Maryville.
 
About the Saints: Maryville (7-4, 2-0 GLVC) heads into Thursday's clash riding a three-game win streak. The Saints fell 62-61 to Cedarville University on Dec. 16 before closing out the non-league slate on Dec. 20 with a 72-56 win over Westminster College. The Saints opened GLVC action with a 79-64 win over Mckendree on Jan. 2 before blowing out Illinois Springfield 76-50 two days later.
 
Six of the Saints' seven wins have come inside Moloney Arena, owning just a 1-3 record away from home.
 
Armon Provo is the team's leading scorer, averaging 17.2 points per game while also grabbing 4.7 rebounds per game. Trae Pemberton chips in 15.5 ppg while Max Mischkulnig adds 10.1 ppg and a team-leading 5.2 rpg. The Saints lead the GLVC in three-point shooting percentage, hitting 40.7 percent of their chances from distance while ranking second in the league in blocks with 4.36 per game.
 
Jan. 10 vs. University of Missouri-Saint Louis at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Tritons have clashed 30 times on the hardwood with Parkside owning a 19-11 edge in the all-time series. UW-Parkside prevailed 89-76 last season on Jan. 9 in Saint Louis behind a 28-point performance from Zygimantas Riauka.
 
About the Tritons: Missouri-Saint Louis (10-2, 2-0 GLVC) heads into Thursday's game with Lewis University having won its last two games. The Tritons opened the season by ripping off eight consecutive wins before dropping back-to-back contests in Florida against West Texas A&M University (67-59) on Dec. 20 and Nova Southeastern University (82-58) the next day.
 
UMSL snapped the skid on Jan. 2, opening GLVC action with a 71-45 slaughter of Illinois Springfield before escaping with a 71-70 win over McKendree on Sunday. The Tritons held UIS to shooting just 25.5 percent in the league opener while Aareon Smith hit a free throw with 2.2 seconds left to pull the hosts ahead and hold on for the one-point win against the Bearcats.
 
Smith leads the Tritons in both scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (9.1 per game) while Tylor Wimbish notches 11.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg. Tre Ogles and Kevin Swanson average just under 10 points a game, chipping in 9.3 ppg apiece. UMSL ranks second in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage, draining 40.5 percent of their opportunities this season.
 
NABC Poll: The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its sixth installment of the NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll on Tuesday with three GLVC squads appearing in the rankings. The University of Indianapolis (11-0) is fifth with Bellarmine University (10-1) slotting one position back in sixth. Lewis University (10-1) rounds out the GLVC contingent at No. 21. UW-Parkside, Drury University and the University of Southern Indiana all sit just outside the Top 25 in the receiving votes section.
 
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 10-1 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.
 
Record Book Watch: Seniors Jordan Mach and Zygimantas Riauka continue to climb up the charts in several career statistical categories. Mach has 213 three-pointers in his career and sits 30 shy from tying Andy Schmidtmann (1986-1990) for the top spot while Riauka is sixth on the all-time list in rebounds (639) and tied for 13th all-time in scoring (1,233).
 
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 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 16 of their last 17 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.

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 155 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.