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

Box Score

Photo Gallery

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 26, 2015)-- The eighth-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team capped off the regular season in style on Thursday night, cutting down the nets inside DeSimone Gymnasium after securing a share of its third consecutive Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division Championship, disposing of arch-nemesis Lewis University 73-68 in front of a raucous crowd of 1,803 fans.

The record-setting night saw the Rangers (25-2, 17-1 GLVC) establish a program single season record for wins, breaking the previous record that had stood since the 1975-1976 season while finishing undefeated at home against the GLVC for the second straight year.

UW-Parkside came out firing, opening up a 12-4 lead just five minutes into the game. The Flyers (20-7, 12-6 GLVC) whittled the Ranger lead down to just two with 11:48 left in the half before taking its first and ultimately, last lead of the night at 17-16 with 7:39 left in the first half. The Lewis lead lasted exactly 20 seconds as a pair of Mohamed Mohamed free throws quickly tied the contest and kicked off a 13-2 Parkside run, building a 10-point buffer with 3:52 left off a Goran Zagorac layup. UW-Parkside tallied the final five points of the first half, utilizing a Mohamed three and an Andy Mazurczak layup to enjoy a 38-26 lead at the halftime interlude.

In the second half, Jalen Curie hit a free throw to give the Rangers their largest lead of the night at 41-28 with 18:17 left but the Flyers were unwilling to go quietly into the night, netting 14 of the next 16 points to pull within one point with 14:26 remaining. Mazurczak canned a three while Jordan Mach buried two treys on back-to-back possessions, for a 9-0 spurt to regain the hosts 10-point buffer. UW-Parkside built its advantage back up to 12 but Lewis again struck back, scoring eight in a row to pull within four with 1:29 remaining.

Lewis had a chance to pull within a possession with 53 ticks left but misfired on a pair of free throws while Mazurczak continued to be deadly accurate from the line, hitting five of his six free throws down the stretch to help preserve the win.

Jimmy Gavin tallied 20 points to pace all scorers, his third straight game of at least 20 while Zygimantas Riauka made his triumphant return to the starting lineup with a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards. Mazurczak added 12 points and four assists while Mach and Mohamed each had nine points.

Kyle Nelson led Lewis with 16 points while Max Strus added 12. David Niggins had 11 points off the bench while Julian Lewis had nine points and 10 boards.

UW-Parkside, winners of nine straight, shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the floor in the first half and ended the game shooting 44.2 percent (23-for-52) from the field while owning a 14-8 edge in points off turnovers.

The Rangers share the GLVC East Crown with Bellarmine University, both notching identical 17-1 GLVC records and 9-1 marks against the East Division. The Knights, who downed the University of Southern Indiana 67-54 on Thursday will receive the No. 1 seed to next weekend's GLVC Tournament, owning the tiebreaker over the Rangers who secure the No. 3 seed. UW-Parkside won an undisputed GLVC East Division crown in 2012-2013 while sharing the crown with the University of Indianapolis last season.

Parkside returns to the hardwood on Thursday, March 5, for the GLVC Tournament Quarterfinals held at Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri.