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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 11, 2015)-- The 12th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team returns to the friendly confines of DeSimone Gymnasium this week, hosting a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference foes from the Show Me State. The Rangers take on Missouri University S&T on Thursday night before closing the homestand on Saturday against Drury University.
 
The Rangers and Miners hit the floor at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday before East Division Parkside and Drury tango on Saturday at 3 p.m. in a battle of divisional leaders. 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 (20-2, 12-1 GLVC) notched a pair of wins last week in Kansas City and return to DeSimone Gymnasium this week riding a four-game win streak and sit tied with Bellarmine University atop the GLVC East Division standings. The Rangers' win streak began on Jan. 29, shocking then No. 1 University of Indianapolis 72-68 in Somers. Parkside closed the homestand with an 82-55 blowout victory over Saint Joseph's College before resuming interdivisional play last week on the road. The Rangers pummeled Rockhurst University 74-44 on Feb. 5 before edging William Jewell College 68-59 on Saturday.
 
Against Rockhurst, the Rangers tallied the opening six points of the game to deflate the home crowd and led wire-to-wire in the 30-point win. Jordan Mach buried four three-pointers on the night and finished with 14 points while Zygimantas Riauka added 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
 
Two days later against Jewell, the Rangers and Cardinals exchanged blows in the first 10 minutes with eight lead changes and three ties before Parkside utilized a 14-2 run to seize the lead for good.
 
Jimmy Gavin leads the Ranger offense, averaging 15.5 points per game along with 3.2 assists per game and 4.1 rebounds per game while Riauka adds 14.9 ppg, 2.9 apg and a team-leading 8.0 rpg. Andy Mazurczak contributes 12.0 ppg while Jordan Mach has hit 55 threes on the season, adding 9.4 ppg. Mohamed Mohamed has been Parkside's primary threat off the bench, averaging 7.3 ppg while shooting 43.1 percent from three-point range.
 
UW-Parkside leads the GLVC and ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense, yielding 61.3 points per game while sitting third in the conference and 17th in Division II in scoring margin (+14.3) and 25th nationally and third in the league in field goal percentage (49.3 percent).
 
Feb. 12 vs. Missouri University S&T at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Miners have met 10 times on the hardwood with UW-Parkside enjoying a 6-4 edge in the all-time series. Last season the Rangers piled on a season-high 101 points but it was not enough as the host Miners erased a 17-point deficit to pull out the 103-101 upset win on Feb. 14, 2014 in Rolla, Missouri.
 
About the Miners: Missouri S&T (9-12, 2-11 GLVC) began the season by winning eight of its first 10 games but has since won just once in its last 11 contests. The Miners snapped a nine game skid on Feb. 5, defeating McKendree University 85-72 before falling 89-80 two days later to the University of Illinois Springfield to cap off a four-game homestand.
 
Danylo Zuikov dished out a program record 13 assists against McKendree, helping the Miners close the opening half on a 12-1 run. S&T led by at least seven the entire second half, notching the squad's second win in GLVC play.
 
Two days later, visiting UIS made 52 trips to the free throw line, hitting 43 of those attempts to secure the nine-point win.
 
Three Miners average in double figures with Desmond Buerge leading the way with a 13.9 points per game average. Buerge additionally averages a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game while pacing the Miners in blocks (14) and steals (38). Zach Ellis chips in 11.9 ppg while Clement Bonardo and Micahel Nesbitt add 10.1 and 9.4 ppg, respectively.
 
Missouri S&T is one of the top scoring team's in the GLVC, ranking second averaging 82.4 points per game but rank last in the conference in both scoring defense (82.8 ppg), field goal defense (50.1 percent), and three-point field goal defense (40.1 percent).
 
Feb. 14 vs. Drury University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: UW-Parkside and Drury have met 10 times on the basketball court with the Panthers owning an 8-2 lead in the all-time series. The two teams met twice last season in Springfield, Missouri with Drury winning both meetings. The Panthers snuck out a 54-52 win on Feb. 13 during the regular season as a cross court inbounds pass set up the winning layup as time expired before downing the Rangers 69-64 in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament on Mar. 15.
 
About the Panthers: Drury (16-5, 10-3 GLVC) heads into Thursday's clash with Lewis University riding a three-game win streak and having won seven of its last eight games. The Panthers, who own a two-game lead atop the GLVC West Division standings, fell 85-81 to Truman State University on Jan. 29 but have rebounded with wins over Quincy University (90-88) on Jan. 31, Illinois Springfield (70-55) on Feb. 5 and McKendree (79-45) on Saturday.
 
Against McKendree the host Panthers sunk 53.6 percent of its shots from the floor
 
Kameron Bundy and Cameron Adams pace the Panther offense, averaging 17.9 and 17.4 points per game, respectively. Adams additionally leads DU on the glass, grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game. Mike Nwelue chips in 9.2 ppg and 4.6 rpg while Drake Patterson adds 7.5 ppg.
 
Drury ranks second in the GLVC in both turnover margin (+4.81) and three-point field goal defense (32.6 percent) while sitting third in the conference in scoring defense, yielding just 65.0 points per game.
 
Civil Servant Day: The Rangers will host Civil Servant Day on Thursday, Feb. 12 against Missouri University S&T to honor all emergency service, government, and military personal. All civil servants will receive free admission to the game with valid ID with the Rangers donning camouflage shooting tops for the occasion. The shooting tops will be available for purchase at the game for $15.
 
NABC Poll: The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its 11th installment of the NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll on Feb. 10 with three GLVC squads appearing in the rankings. UW-Parkside appears in the poll for the fifth consecutive week, earning its highest ranking in program history after jumping two spots to No. 12. Bellarmine University is third while the University of Indianapolis is seventh.
 
Dog Pound: The University of Indianapolis has been ranked No.1 twice in its history with both runs atop the NABC Poll ending in DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers dethroned the No. 1 Greyhounds 63-45 on Feb. 1, 1997 while repeating the feat nearly 18 years later, downing No. 1 UIndy 72-68 on Jan. 29, 2015.

GLVC Januarys: The Rangers opened conference play 4-0 for the third straight season and were 8-0 for the second time in three years. 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 started the season 16-1 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 22: Through 22 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 241 three-pointers in his career and sits two shy from tying Andy Schmidtmann (1986-1990) for the top spot while Riauka is sixth on the all-time list in rebounds (707) and 11th all-time in scoring (1,370).
 
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 23 of its last 25 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 22 of their last 23 games at home.

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 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 165 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.