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

SOMERS, Wis. (Dec. 31, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team returns to the court after a nearly two-week layoff on Saturday, hosting Indiana University-Northwest in the final non-conference game of the regular season.
 
The Rangers and RedHawks hit the court at 3 p.m. on Saturday inside DeSimone Gymnasium. Live stats, video and audio will all be available.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-2, 1-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) resumes play after a 13-day layoff and will compete inside the friendly confines of DeSimone Gymnasium for the first time since Nov. 28 after playing the last four games on the road. The Rangers are currently riding a three-game win streak, claiming wins over GLVC East rival Saint Joseph's College (96-60 on Dec. 5), along with non-league foes Upper Iowa University (74-71 on Dec. 15) and Michigan Tech University (70-64 on Dec. 19).
 
Against Upper Iowa, Andy Mazurczak led the way for the Green and White, dropping 23 points while going 10-for-10 at the free throw line to secure the three-point win in a wild contest featuring 13 lead changes and nine ties. The host Peacocks owned a four-point advantage with 4:37 left in the game but a three-pointer from Jalen Currie and a pair of free throws from Mazurczak swung the lead back to the Rangers. The lead switched hands four times in the next two minutes before free throws from Kendale McCullum gave visiting UW-Parkside the lead for good with 1:37 left as Mazurczak hit six free throws down the stretch to ice the win.
 
Against Michigan Tech, four Rangers ended the afternoon in double figures, escaping from SDC Gymnasium with a 70-64 victory. The opening 16 minutes featured 15 lead changes before a layup and free throw from Chavares Flanigan gave the visiting Rangers a 27-26 edge with 3:57 left in the opening half. UW-Parkside never trailed the rest of the contest, expanding its edge to as many as 12 points in the second half en route to the squad's third consecutive road victory.
 
Alexander Brown led the way with 17 points with Mazurczak adding 14 and Currie and McCullum each adding 10.
 
Mazurczak is the Rangers' leading scorer on the season, averaging 16.9 points per game while logging a team-best 3.8 assists per game. Brown adds 14.3 ppg, canning a team-best 18 threes on the season. Both Mazurczak and Brown have finished in double figures in eight of the nine games this year. McCullum is the third Ranger averaging double figures, chipping in 12.9 points per game along with a team-high 20 steals. Goran Zagorac is a force defensively, leading the squad with 7.6 rebounds per game along with 15 blocks.
 
As a squad, UW-Parkside leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 45.4 percent of chances while ranking second in the conference in scoring margin (+11.7) and field goal percent defense (40.4 percent). 
 
Jan. 2 vs. Indiana University-Northwest at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and RedHawks have met twice on the hardwood with UW-Parkside winning on both occasions.
 
About the RedHawks: Indiana-Northwest (5-10), an NAIA Independent, heads to Somers having dropped eight of its last 10 games. IU-Northwest snapped a three-game slide on Tuesday night, dispatching host Goshen College 89-78. Prior to that, the RedHawks had suffered setbacks at the hands of Calumet College of Saint Joseph on Dec. 16 (103-101 in triple overtime), Indiana University-Kokomo on Dec. 19 (76-73), and Lourdes University on Dec. 22 (62-59).
 
Darrius Davis is the RedHawks' leading scorer, dropping 12.6 points per game and hitting a team-best 27 three-pointers on the season. John Mosser adds 11.1 ppg and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game while JJ Pennington and Brandon Grubl both contribute 10.4 ppg. Grubl additionally leads the squad in assists with 4.0 helpers per game while Pennington adds 4.9 rpg.
 
In the Rankings: Kendale McCullum ranks 15th in NCAA Division II in steals, averaging 2.5 per game while Andy Mazurczak ranks 22nd in free throw percentage, hitting 91.2 percent of his chances from the line.
 
No. 1 for 3: UW-Parkside leads all of NCAA Division II (350 teams) in three-point field goal percentage, nailing 45.4 percent of shots from beyond the arc in 2015-2016 and sits fourth among NCAA teams from all three divisions (1,116 total teams). Division I Saint Mary's College (CA) at 47.3 percent, University of Kansas (46.3 percent), and the University of Oklahoma (46.2 percent) are the only three institutions with a hotter hand from three-point range.
 
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 361 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 33-7 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 178 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.