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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 25, 2015)-- A division title hangs in the balance this week as the eighth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team clashes against Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival Lewis University on Thursday night to close out the regular season.
 
The Rangers and Flyers hit the floor at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and live stats, video, and audio will be provided for the regular season finale. 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.
 
East Division Scenarios: UW-Parkside (24-2, 16-1 GLVC) has a chance to clinch at least a share of its third consecutive East Division crown on Thursday night. A Ranger win guarantees at least a share of the title while a Parkside win coupled with a Bellarmine University loss to the University of Southern Indiana would give the Rangers an outright title. UW-Parkside could still secure a share of the title with a loss but would need Southern Indiana to also defeat Bellarmine.
 
About the Rangers: More is at stake for  UW-Parkside (24-2, 16-1 GLVC) than just a divisional title as the team sits just one win shy of establishing a new school record for wins in a season.  The Rangers, riding an eight-game win streak, tied the school record for wins on Saturday with an 83-82 overtime win over the University of Illinois Springfield, matching the win totals of both the legendary 1974-1975 (24-9) and 1975-1976 (24-7) Ranger teams coached by UW-Parkside Hall of Famer Steve Stephens.
 
The Rangers began last week with an 80-64 victory over host McKendree University as Goran Zagorac tallied 10 points and 13 rebounds in his first career start while Jimmy Gavin popped off a team-high 28 points in the wire-to-wire win.
 
Two days later, the Rangers needed a gargantuan 40-point effort from Gavin to escape downstate Illinois with a win, edging UIS 83-82 in overtime. UW-Parkside looked headed for a blowout victory with a 15-point edge with 11:12 left in the game but the Prairie Stars battled back, closing with four after an 11-2 run and eventually forcing extra time after tying the game 71-71 on a three with 38 seconds left.
 
The host Prairie Stars tallied the first four points of overtime but the Rangers calmly battled back, seizing the lead for good on a pair of Andy Mazurczak free throws with 24 ticks left.
 
Gavin hit seven three-pointers during the game and hit 11 free throws for a career-high 40 points while Mazurczak and Kendale McCullum added 17 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Gavin leads the team in scoring on the season, averaging 16.8 points per game while dishing out a team-leading 3.1 assists per game. Zygimantas Riauka has been mothballed the last two games but is second on the squad in scoring with 14.6 ppg and leads the team in both rebounding (7.9 per game) and blocks (40). Mazurczak is the third Ranger in double figures, adding 11.8 ppg while Jordan Mach chips in 9.3 ppg while leading the team with 63 treys on the year.
 
UW-Parkside tops the GLVC and ranks 11th nationally (out of 350 teams) in scoring defense, allowing a paltry 62.3 points per game while sitting second in the league and 10th nationally in scoring margin (+14.1). The Rangers sit third in the conference in three-point field goal defense (33.1 percent) and slot fourth in field goal percentage (48.9 percent), field goal percentage defense (42.6 percent), three-point field goal percentage (38.5 percent), and rebounding margin (+4.1).
 
Feb. 26 vs. Lewis University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Flyers have met 63 times on the hardwood with Lewis owning a 36-27 advantage in the all-time series. UW-Parkside has prevailed in each of the last three encounters, including a 69-65 victory on Jan. 19 inside Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Illinois. Zygimantas Riauka tallied a game-high 23 points while Jordan Mach forced two steals in the final minutes to ice the contest.
 
About the Flyers: Lewis (20-6, 12-5 GLVC) head to DeSimone Gymnasium riding an eight-game win streak. The Flyers had a forgettable six day stretch in January, falling by four to Parkside on a Martin Luther King Day before stumbling 82-79 to Bellarmine University three days later in overtime and capping the disastrous week by falling 64-60 to the University of Southern Indiana on Jan. 24.
 
The Flyers picked up the pieces the following week, disposing Saint Joseph's College 88-76 on Jan. 29 before knocking off No. 1 University of Indianapolis 70-61 on Jan. 31. Lewis has been untouchable since, winning every game it's played in February including a 83-78 win over UIS and a 98-70 blowout win over McKendree last week.
 
Ryan Jackson leads the Flyers offensively, averaging 15.0 points per game while distributing 3.8 assists per game. Max Strus adds 13.2 ppg and 5.1 rebounds per game while Jeff Jarosz adds 12.3 ppg. Gabe Williams leads the Lewis bench, averaging 8.4 ppg while Julian Lewis leads the Fleyrs' on the glass, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game.
 
A tough team defensively, Lewis ranks second in the GLVC in field goal defense (40.7 percent) and blocks (4.08 per game) while sitting fourth in the conference in scoring defense (66.5 points per game). Offensively, the Flyers sit third in the GLVC in field goal percentage (50.1 percent) along with ranking third in rebounding margin (+5.5).
 
Senior Salute: UW-Parkside will honor seniors Jordan Mach, Tavaris McNeil, Mohamed Mohamed, and Zygimantas Riauka in a pregame ceremony tomorrow for their contributions to the program. The class of 2015 has amassed a record of 75-36 over the past four seasons, becoming the winningest class in the Division II era for Parkside while claiming two GLVC East Division crowns and making two trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
NABC Poll: The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its 13th installment of the NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll on Feb. 25 with three GLVC squads appearing in the rankings. UW-Parkside appears in the poll for the seventh consecutive week, surging to its highest ranking in program history at No. 8. Bellarmine University is second while the University of Indianapolis is 16th.
 
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.
 
Fantastic Four: Through 26 games, the Rangers have utilized just two different starting lineups with four student-athletes starting every game this season. Jimmy Gavin, Andy Mazurczak, Jordan Mach, and Jalen Curie have all started every game this season with Zygimantas Riauka starting in 24 of the 26 games this year.
 
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 249 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 169 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.