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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 4, 2015)-- The 14th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team returns to interdivisional play this week, heading westward to Kansas City to face a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division rivals.
 
The GLVC East Division leading Rangers clash with Rockhurst University on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Kansas City before heading to Liberty, Missouri, on Saturday for a 2 p.m. showdown with William Jewell College. Live stats, video, and audio will be provided for both contests with Mark Albanese on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (18-2, 10-1 GLVC) returned to the win column last week, knocking off then No. 1 University of Indianapolis 72-68 on Jan. 29 in front of a near capacity crowd inside DeSimone Gymnasium before obliterating Saint Joseph's College 82-55 on Saturday during Alumni Day. The wins powered the Rangers back into a tie for first place in the GLVC East Division standings with Bellarmine University, the lone GLVC team to defeat UW-Parkside this season.
 
The Rangers nabbed their biggest win of the season on Jan. 29, shocking No. 1 UIndy in a game the Green and White led wire-to-wire. UW-Parkside led by as many as 14 points in the second half but the Greyhounds charged back, closing within four with 2:58 remaining but the Rangers hit all eight of its free throws in the final minutes to hang on for the upset victory.
 
Andy Mazurczak and Jimmy Gavin headlined the memorable night for the Rangers, each scoring 17 points. Mazurczak hit the final four free throws of the game while 15 of Gavin's 17 points came in the second half while also grabbing six steals.
 
UW-Parkside opened up a 44-22 lead on Saint Joseph's after 20 minutes of play and led by at least 22 the entire second half in the blowout victory to extend the squad's home winning streak to 10 games. All 14 Rangers who dressed for the game saw at least eight minutes of action with Gavin again leading all scorers with 17 points while Jordan Mach added 15 points after sinking four three-pointers on the afternoon.
 
Gavin leads the Parkside scoring charge, collecting 15.7 points per game while dishing out a team-best 3.2 assists per game and grabbing 4.2 rebounds per game. Zygimantas Riauka tallies 15.6 ppg and a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game while notching 1.7 blocks per game while Mazurczak chips in 12.4 ppg. Mach continues to be dangerous from beyond the arc, draining 48 threes this season and averaging 8.9 ppg while Mohamed Mohamed is a spark off the bench, adding 7.1 ppg in a reserve role.
 
The Rangers are one of the top defensive teams in the GLVC, ranking second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 62.3 points per game while sitting third in the league in scoring margin (+13.8) and field goal percentage (49.7 percent).
 
Feb. 5 vs. Rockhurst University at Mason-Halpin Field House (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Hawks have battled on the hardwood eight times with Parkside enjoying a 5-3 lead in the all-time series. Last season the host Rangers utilized a 23-6 run midway through the second half to claim a 76-63 win over the Hawks on Feb. 8 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Hawks: Rockhurst (6-13, 2-9 GLVC) snapped a three-game skid on Saturday, downing Maryville University 86-75 inside Mason Halpin Field House. Prior to the Maryville win, the Hawks suffered setbacks to Quincy University on Jan. 22 (91-76), Truman State University on Jan. 24 (89-65) and the University of Missouri-Saint Louis on Jan. 29 (77-76).
 
Against UMSL, Rockhurst led by as many as 11 points but let the game slip away in the final minutes as the Tritons tallied the final four points to eke out the one-point win. The Hawks vented their frustrations on Maryville two days later as five players ended the afternoon in double figures in an 11-point win. Dominique Washington led Rockhurst with 17 points with Josh Roberts and Adam Fatkin both adding 11.
 
All six of RU's wins this season have come at home, owning a 6-5 mark inside Mason-Halpin Field House while owning an 0-8 mark in games away from the facility.
 
On the season, Washington leads the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points per game while adding 5.3 rebounds per game. Russell Burns chips in 10.8 ppg and owns a team-best 5.7 rpg while Fatkin adds 8.8 ppg.
 
The Hawks rank near the bottom of the GLVC in scoring offense, ranking 15th while averaging just 68.9 points per game and additionally slot 15th in scoring margin (-6.9), field goal percentage (41.0 percent), and turnover margin (-2.0).
 
Feb. 7 vs. William Jewell College at Mabee Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Cardinals have met just twice since William Jewell switched from NAIA to NCAA Division II three years ago with Parkside winning both encounters. The Rangers won by eight in the first meeting in 2012-2013 while securing a 90-80 win last season on Feb. 6 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Cardinals: William Jewell (9-10, 5-6 GLVC) heads into Thursday's clash with Lewis University riding a two-game win streak after earning a pair of home wins last week. Jewell snapped a three-game skid on Jan. 29, downing Maryville 60-49 before defeating Missouri-Saint Louis 69-60 on Saturday.
 
Against Maryville, the Cardinals trailed 34-31 at the halftime intermission but utilized a 10-0 scoring surge in the second half to create some separation and secure the win.
 
Against UMSL, Jordan Lewis poured on 20 points as WJC notched the nine-point win.
 
William Jewell has been a tough squad to play at home, owning an 8-3 record inside the Mabee Center while winning just one of their eight road or neutral site contests this season.
 
Four Cardinals average in double figures with Lewis leading the way with a 13.2 points per game average. D'Vante Mosby tallies 12.0 ppg and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game while Cjhristin Hildebrandt adds 10.8 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Darius Tomlin averages 10.8 ppg while also adding 3.1 rpg and 2.4 assists per game.
 
WJC ranks last in the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage, hitting just 31.4 percent of its chances from beyond the arc but ranks No. 1 in the GLVC in three-point field goal defense, holding its opposition to shooting just 32.2 percent from the perimeter.
 
NABC Poll: The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its 10th installment of the NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll on Feb. 3 with three GLVC squads appearing in the rankings. UW-Parkside appears in the poll for the fourth consecutive week, climbing six spots to No. 14, Bellarmine University climbs one spot to fifth, while the University of Indianapolis tumbles from No. 1 to No. 9 after absorbing a pair of losses last week.
 
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 20: Through 20 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 234 three-pointers in his career and sits nine shy from tying Andy Schmidtmann (1986-1990) for the top spot while Riauka is sixth on the all-time list in rebounds (694) and 11th all-time in scoring (1,354).
 
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 second consecutive season in 2013-2014, marking the first time since 1987 that the program has notched back-to-back 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 163 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.