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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 18, 2015)-- The 12th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad takes its six game win streak on the road this week, traveling to the Land of Lincoln to face Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division foes McKendree University and University of Illinois Springfield.
 
The Rangers and Bearcats hit the floor at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday in Lebanon, Illinois while on Saturday the Rangers and Prairie Stars tip at 3 p.m. Live stats, video, and audio will be provided for both contests with Mark Albanese and Steve Kratochvil on the audio feed available online. Thursday's contest will be broadcast over the web only while Saturday can be heard on the web and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (22-2, 14-1 GLVC) is off to its best start to GLVC play in program history, sitting tied for first place in the East Division with Bellarmine University with three games left in the regular season.
 
The Rangers' lone blemish in conference play was a 75-52 setback to Bellarmine on Jan. 24 in Louisville, Kentucky. Since then the Rangers have been on a tear, winning six straight, including four by double digit margins. UW-Parkside dismantled Missouri University S&T 94-70 on Feb. 12 as Jordan Mach established a new school record for career threes before downing GLVC West Division leader Drury University 64-53 on Saturday.
 
Against S&T, the Rangers opened up a 17-point halftime lead and owned at least a 15-point buffer the entire second half en route to the blowout win. Jimmy Gavin led the way with 18 points while Jalen Currie netted a season-high 14.
 
Two days later against GLVC West Division leader Drury University, the Rangers once again roared out to an early lead, owning a 13-point advantage after 20 minutes of action. The Panthers pulled within four with 2:26 remaining but were held scoreless the rest of the game as the homestanding Rangers picked up their 12th straight win inside DeSimone Gymnasium.  The game concluded interdivisional play for UW-Parkside with the Rangers finishing a perfect 8-0 against the West Division.
 
Jimmy Gavin leads the Ranger scoring attack, averaging 15.4 points per game while grabbing 4.0 rebounds per game and issuing 3.2 assists per game. Zygimantas Riauka adds 14.6 ppg along with a team-best 7.9 rpg and 40 blocks. Andy Mazurczak is the third Ranger averaging in double figures with 11.6 ppg and 2.8 apg. Mach averages 9.3 ppg and has a team-high 53 treys on the season while Mohamed Mohamed is the leader off the bench, chipping in 7.3 ppg.
 
UW-Parkside leads the GLVC in scoring defense and ranks sixth nationally (out of 350 teams), yielding just 61.3 points per contest while sitting second in the conference and 10th nationally in scoring margin (+14.5). The Rangers additionally rank fourth in the GLVC in both field goal percentage (49.3 percent), field goal defense (42.1 percent), three-point field goal defense (33.1 percent) and rebounding margin (+4.0).
 
Feb. 19 vs. McKendree University at Statham Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: UW-Parkside has dominated the all-time series, winning all six encounters. The Rangers swept the season series in 2013-2014 while destroying McKendree 90-63 on Jan. 17 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (11-12, 4-11 GLVC) started the conference slate by dropping eight of its first nine games but has since regrouped, going 3-3 over the last six games, including a pair of victories last week to open up a five-game homestand.
 
The Bearcats were crushed 79-45 by Drury on Feb. 7 in Springfield, Missouri before returning home on Feb. 12 and downing Rockhurst University 84-78 behind a 21-point effort from Michael Jackson. On Saturday, the Bearcats overcame a 14-point second half deficit to edge William Jewell College 79-72 with Logan Carson piling on a game-high 31 points.
 
Carson leads the Bearcats offense, averaging 15.8 points per game along with a team-leading 19 blocks and 25 steals. Brandon Book averages 15.2 points per game but has been inactive since Jan. 10 while Matt Holmes adds 13.4 ppg and 7.7 rebounds per game while Jackson chips in 13.3 ppg.
 
Feb. 21 vs. University of Illinois Springfield at TRAC (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: UW-Parkside and Illinois Springfield have met 10 times on the hardwood with the Rangers holding a commanding 7-3 edge in the all-times series. The two squads last met on Jan. 15 inside DeSimone Gymnasium to open up intradivisional play with the host Rangers pulling away in the second half for the 69-47 win.
 
About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (10-13, 4-11 GLVC) heads into Thursday's game against Lewis University having won two of its last three games. The Prairie Stars snapped a four-game slid on Feb. 7 in Rolla, Missouri, hitting 43 free throws on the afternoon to down host Missouri University S&T 89-80. UIS suffered a 72-71 setback at home last Thursday to William Jewell before notching an 81-67 win over Rockhurst on Saturday.
 
The Prairie Stars trailed by 10 points at the half against William Jewell but negated the deficit in the first nine minutes of the second half, grabbing a 47-46 lead with 11:35 remaining. The Cardinals answered and reestablished a double digit barrier and withstood one final rally from UIS to clinch the one-point win.
 
Against Rockhurst, JJ Cravatta and Dylan Sparkman each had career games, collecting 27 and 24 points, apiece, as the host Prairie Stars pulled away in the second half.
 
Jamall Millison leads the Prairie Star scoring attack, averaging 13.7 points per game while Dylan Sparkman chips in 10.8 ppg and a team leading 6.1 rebounds per game. Mark Weems is the third UIS player averaging in double figures, chipping in 10.6 ppg while grabbing 3.7 rpg. Cravatta is the leading scorer off the bench for UIS, dropping 8.7 ppg.
 
UIS ranks 14th in the GLVC in scoring offense, averaging 68.6 points per game while checking in at 10th in scoring defense, yielding 71.2 ppg.
 
NABC Poll: The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its 12th installment of the NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll on Feb. 17 with three GLVC squads appearing in the rankings. UW-Parkside appears in the poll for the sixth consecutive week, holding steady with its highest ranking in program history at No. 12. Bellarmine University is third while the University of Indianapolis is sixth.
 
GLVC Tournament: The Rangers have already clinched a first round bye in the 2014 GLVC Tournament and will open up the postseason on Thursday, March 5 in the GLVC Quarterfinals at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri. The GLVC Semifinals will commence the following day on March 7 with the Championship Game slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 8.
 
All-Tournament passes, which are good for all seven sessions, will be $38. A single-session ticket will be $18 for adults and seniors, and $11 for students with a valid ID. Children ages 6 and under are free.
 
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 24: Through 24 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 surpassed Andy Schmidtmann (1986-1990) as the all-time leader in career three-pointers on Feb. 12 against Missouri University S&T and currently holds the No. 1 spot with 245 career threes. Riauka sits sixth on the all-time list in rebounds (722) and 11th all-time in scoring (1,393).
 
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 25 of its last 27 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 24 of their last 25 games at home, including 12 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 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 167 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.