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

SOMERS, Wis. (Nov. 20, 2015)-- After a pair of blowout victories the University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team faces its first Division II opponents of the season this weekend, hosting the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday before hitting the road and facing Walsh University on Monday night in Ohio.
 
The Rangers and Bulldogs square off on Saturday at 3 p.m. inside DeSimone Gymnasium while UW-Parkside and Walsh tip-off at 7 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Monday in North Canton, Ohio. Live stats, video, and audio will be available for the UMD game with Eric Zizich providing the call while only live stats will be available on Monday.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (2-0) barely broke a sweat in its opening two contests, taking control early and owning a comfortable margin the entire second half in both games. The Rangers opened the season on Nov. 14 with an 81-56 win over NAIA Saint Xavier University with four players ending the afternoon in double figures. Alexander Brown led the way with 17 points in 18 minutes off the bench while Kendale McCullum had 13 points and six assists.
 
Three days later it was a similar result with Parkside destroying in-state rival Silver Lake College 103-53 with Brown again putting on a scoring clinic with 23 points in 20 minutes of play. Andy Mazurczak had a milestone game, netting his 1,000th point while also climbing to fourth on the program's career assists list. The game was UW-Parkside's offensive outburst was its first 100-point game since piling on 101 points against host Missouri University S&T back on Feb. 15, 2014.
 
The high-octane Rangers head into the weekend averaging 92.0 points per game while holding opponents to a paltry 54.5 points per game. Through two games UW-Parkside is shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 48.7 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Brown averages 20.0 points per game to pace the offensive attack, leading the team despite averaging just 19 minutes per game. Mazurczak averages 16.0 ppg and 4.5 assists per game while McCullum adds 13.0 ppg. Goran Zagorac averages 9.0 ppg and a team-best 12.5 rebounds per game with Kyle Flanagan contributing 9.0 ppg and 7.5 rpg.
 
Nov. 21 vs. University of Minnesota-Duluth at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Bulldogs have battled 11 times on the hardwood with UW-Parkside enjoying a slim 6-5 edge in the all-time series. The two squads last met on Nov. 23, 2014 in Duluth with the Rangers emerging with a 79-61 victory.
 
About the Bulldogs: Minnesota-Duluth (3-1) dropped its season-opener 78-60 to host University of Central Missouri on Nov. 13 but has been on a tear since, netting three straight victories. The Bulldogs recent run began with an 87-82 win over East Central University on Nov. 14, canning nine threes in the five-point win before earning wins over a pair of Upper Peninsula schools. UMD defeated Northern Michigan University 79-67 in the home opener at Romano Gymnasium on Tuesday before traveling to Houghton to down Michigan Tech University 74-68.
 
Taylor Lavery and Pierre Newton are the two catalysts for the UMD offense, averaging 19.5 and 18.0 points per game, respectively. Newton additionally averages a team-leading 8.8 rebounds per game. Brandon Pineda adds 11.8 ppg while Junior Coleman dishes out a team-high 3.3 assists per game.
 
Nov. 23 vs. Walsh University at Cecchini Center (Live Stats)
 
Series History: Last season was the first meeting between the two schools with visiting Walsh spoiling the Rangers home opener 80-79 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.  The Cavaliers won the contest despite owning a lead for just 75 total seconds, utilizing an and one situation with nine seconds left to score three points and snag the one point lead. UW-Parkside had two final chances for the win but both shots were off the mark. The game is the last home loss for UW-Parkside, having won 15 straight since.
 
About the Cavaliers: Walsh (0-1) has played just one regular season contest this season, suffering a 100-73 setback to host Glenville State University on Nov. 17. Prior to that, the Cavaliers took on Ohio State University in an exhibition clash on Nov. 8, falling 92-82 in Columbus, Ohio.
 
Against Glenville State, Walsh was unable to bottle up the blazing hot Pioneers who finished the game shooting 61.7 percent (37-for-60) from the floor. Glenville led wire-to-wire while piling on 63 in the second half.
 
Zac Carter led Walsh with 19 points while Trey Fletcher added 14 points. Chall Montgomery has nine points while securing seven rebounds.
 
Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2015-2016 season, 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 the University of Indianapolis, Saint Joseph's College, and travel partner Lewis University. Pod mates rotate every two years with the Rangers previously paired with Lewis, University of Illinois Springfield and McKendree University from 2013-2015.
 
Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside is picked to finish fifth in the GLVC East in 2015-2016 according to the league's 16 head coaches.
 
The Rangers (26-4, 17-1 GLVC) accumulated 71 points in the poll, securing the No. 5 spot in the eight-team East Division and owning a 30-point cushion on sixth place University of Illinois Springfield (11-16, 5-13 GLVC). National semifinalist and GLVC East Co-Champion Bellarmine University (31-4, 17-1 GLVC) sits atop the poll, collecting 119 points and 14 of the 16 first place votes.
 
The University of Indianapolis (25-6, 14-4 GLVC) is second with 101 points and one first place nod while the University of Southern Indiana (19-8, 12-6 GLVC) is third with 87 points and the remaining first place endorsement. Lewis University (22-9, 12-6 GLVC) rounds out the upper half of the division, slotting fourth with 81 points.
 
UIS is sixth with 41 points, followed by McKendree University (11-15, 4-14 GLVC) in seventh (35 points) and Saint Joseph's College (6-22, 3-15 GLVC) in eighth (33 points).
 
In the West Division, defending GLVC Tournament Champion Drury University (21-9, 12-6 GLVC) ranks No. 1 with 115 points and 11 first place endorsements. One point is all that separates No. 2 from No. 3 with Truman State University (20-10, 11-7 GLVC) grabbing 92 points to snag second while Quincy University(13-16, 7-11 GLVC)  is third with 91 points. Both Truman State and Quincy collected two first place votes. The University of Missouri-Saint Louis (19-11, 10-8 GLVC) rounds out the upper half of the division, netting 82 points and the final first place vote.
 
Maryville University (12-17, 6-12 GLVC) is fifth with 70 points followed by William Jewell College (13-14, 9-9 GLVC) in sixth (45 points), Missouri University S&T (9-17, 2-16 GLVC) in seventh (38 points) and Rockhurst University (7-19, 3-15 GLVC) in eighth (35 points).

Milestone Maz: Senior guard Andy Mazurczak eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier for his career on Nov. 17 against Silver Lake College with a 20-point outburst against the Lakers. Point 1,000 came on a fast-break layup with 10:12 left in the second half. Mazurczak additionally surpassed Walter Greene (1978-1981) for fourth on the all-time assists list in the same game and currently sits with 336 career assists.
 
Non-Conference Mastery: The Rangers have dominated non-conference play over the last four seasons, owning a 29-6 record in regular season non-league clashes. UW-Parkside wrapped up last season with an 8-1 non-league mark while going 7-1 in both 2013-2014 and 2011-2012 while posting a 5-3 record in 2012-2013.
 
Home Cooking: UW-Parkside has won 24 consecutive GLVC games inside DeSimone Gymnasium. That stretch includes eight wins over nationally-ranked opponents and five wins over Top 10 teams. The Rangers have additionally won 27 of their last 28 games at home, including 15 in a row.

20-Win Club: The Rangers eclipsed the 20-win barrier for the third consecutive season in 2014-2015, marking the first time since 1987 that the program has notched three consecutive 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 13th season as head coach and his 16th season overall at UW-Parkside in 2015-2016.

Reigel, the GLVC Coach of the Year in both 2013 and 2015, has guided the Rangers to three straight GLVC East Division crowns while also earning Jack Bennett Man of the Year Award and Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors in 2013. The Wisconsin native sits second on the all-time wins list with 173 wins and has guided the Rangers to four NCAA Tournament berths.

Returning to the sidelines will be associate coach Keven Bradley along with assistants Tom Reigel and Andy Fitzgerald.