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

SOMERS, Wis. (Dec. 14, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad returns to the hardwood after focusing on final exams last week, wrapping up the calendar year with a pair of road non-conference games. The Rangers begin the week on Tuesday against Upper Iowa University before facing Michigan Tech University on Saturday.

The Rangers and Peacocks will clash on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa, while UW-Parkside and Michigan Tech will square off at 5 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Saturday in Houghton, Michigan. Live stats and video will be available for both games while the Upper Iowa contest will additionally have an audio stream.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (5-2, 1-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) resumes non-conference play this week after earning a split two weeks ago to open the GLVC slate. The Rangers opened conference play with a 90-79 setback to the University of Indianapolis on Dec. 3 before snapping a two-game skid with a dominating 96-60 win over Saint Joseph's College two days later.
 
Against UIndy, Andy Mazurczak and Kendale McCullum combined for 42 points in a back and forth affair featuring six lead changes and five ties. The host Greyhounds surged out to a 19-9 lead after eight minutes of play only to see their lead evaporate as Mazurczak tied the game with a layup with 8:11 left in the first stanza. An Alexander Brown three gave the visiting Rangers the lead but UIndy took control in the final minutes of the opening half, owning a 45-34 lead at the break. UW-Parkside whittled the UIndy lead down to a point on a Jalen Currie tip-in but the Hounds responded with an 11-0 run and never looked back to secure the win.
 
Mazurczak tallied a team-best 22 points with 17 coming in the second half while McCullum scored 20 points. UW-Parkside struggled to contain UIndy's top offensive threats with Jordan Lloyd and Lucas Barker scoring 28 and 22 points, respectively.
 
Against Saint Joe's, the host Pumas owned a 29-19 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first half before the Rangers clamped down defensively and used a 19-2 scoring surge to stake a seven-point lead. UW-Parkside enjoyed a 48-42 lead at the break, scorching the nets after shooting 67.9 percent (19-for-28) from the field.
 
The Rangers continued to pull away in the second half, limiting the Pumas to just 18 second half points in the 36-point blowout win.
 
Mazurzcak turned in another big day offensively, dropping 19 points to pace all scorers with Jalen Currie and Goran Zagorac both adding 15.
 
On the season, three Rangers average in double figures with Mazurczak leading the wat with a 16.4 points per game average. The senior guard additionally leads the team in assists, averaging 4.1 helpers per game. Brown chips in 14.0 ppg, shooting a blazing 51.9 percent from beyond the arc while McCullum adds 13.3 ppg. Zagorac chips in 9.7 ppg and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game while Currie adds 9.0 ppg.
 
UW-Parkside leads the GLVC in scoring margin (+13.7), field goal percentage (51.2 percent), three-point field goal percentage (45.8 percent), and assist to turnover ratio (1.54) while sitting second in the league in scoring offense (85.1 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (41.3 percent).  
 
Dec. 15 vs. Upper Iowa University at Dorman Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Peacocks have met just three times on the hardwood with Upper Iowa owning a 2-1 edge in the all-time series. The two squads met last season on Dec. 16 inside DeSimone Gymnasium with the host Rangers coming away with an 83-67 victory.
 
About the Peacocks: Upper Iowa (6-7, 2-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) heads into Tuesday's non-league tilt having lost three of its last four games. The Peacocks lone win during that stretch was a 103-80 victory over Concordia University Saint Paul on Saturday in Minnesota. Prior to that UIU suffered setbacks to conference foes University of Sioux Falls (85-79) on Dec. 4, Southwest Minnesota State University (87-81) on Dec. 5, and Minnesota State University-Mankato (97-75) on Dec. 11.
 
Against Minnesota State, a 20-2 run by the host Mavericks turned a four-point Peacock advantage into a 14-point deficit. Upper Iowa was unable to respond, staring at a 19-point hole after 20-minutes of action. MSU finished the contest shooting 51.9 percent from the floor while canning 11 threes while holding UIU to shooting just 37.3 percent.
 
The next day it was the Peacocks with the hot hand, shooting 59.3 percent from the floor and canning 15 threes in the 23-point rout of Concordia. Elliot Kane led the charge for Upper Iowa, finishing with 21 points after drilling seven threes.
 
Jimmy Roth paces the Peacock scoring attack, averaging 12.4 points per game while also collecting a team-best 11 steals. Josh Weeber drops 12.0 ppg with Luke Lenhart contributing 11.0 ppg. Jordan Hay averages 9.8 ppg while Carson Parker adds 9.5 ppg and a team-best 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
Dec. 19 vs. Michigan Tech University at SDC Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Huskies have battled 14 times on the basketball court with Michigan Tech enjoying a 10-4 edge in the series. UW-Parkside prevailed last season on Dec. 20, grinding out a 69-62 victory inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Huskies: Michigan Tech (2-5, 1-3 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) returns to the Upper Peninsula looking to snap a three-game slide. The Huskies opened up GLIAC action with an 86-72 victory over Malone University on Dec. 3 but have gone winless since, falling 83-71 to Walsh University, 62-52 to University of Findlay and 77-64 to Wayne State University.
 
Kyle Monroe leads the Huskies, averaging 18.4 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per game while Bryan Heath adds 15.3 ppg. Luke Heller is the third Husky in double figures, dropping 11.0 ppg while also adding 4.6 rpg.    
 
National TV Exposure: The Rangers' doubleheader against GLVC rival Drury University on Saturday, Jan. 9 will be broadcast live nationwide on the American Sports Network and online through NCAA.com. To accommodate the national telecast, tipoff is getting pushed back to 7 p.m. Spectators in attendance will receive "White Out" T-shirts provided from Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Services at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - All Saints, the official sports medicine provider of the UW-Parkside athletic department. Additionally, the first 100 fans will get a RangerBear bobblehead doll.
 
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 356 career assists. His performance helped the sport management major earn GLVC Player of the Week honors on Nov. 23.
 
Non-Conference Mastery: The Rangers have dominated non-conference play over the last four seasons, owning a 31-7 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 28 of their last 30 games at home, including a stretch of 16 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 176 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.