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

Box Score

SAINT CHARLES, Mo. (Mar. 6, 2015)-- The third-seeded University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball squad advanced to the semifinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament for the third consecutive season on Thursday night, surviving a late charge from sixth-seeded Truman State University and holding on for the 73-70 victory in the quarterfinals inside Family Arena.
 
The GLVC East Division Co-Champion Rangers (26-2) never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 16 points before needing to buckle down during the waning moments to preserve the win.
 
Eighth-ranked UW-Parkside owned a 68-62 buffer with just under a minute left in the game but the Bulldogs (20-10) battled back, closing within a possession off a Reed Mells layup with 40 seconds left before crawling within a point with 11 ticks left off another layup from Mells. Jimmy Gavin hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left after receiving an inbounds pass while TSU misfired on a desperation three as time expired as the Rangers held on for the three-point decision.
 
A pair of Andy Mazurczak free throws gave the Rangers their largest lead of the night at 43-27 with 16:10 left in the game but the Bulldogs collected 12 of the next 13 points to close within five with 12:09 remaining. A Jordan Mach three pushed the Parkside edge back up to eight with 10:48 left but Truman State pieced together an 8-1 spurt to pull within a point at 50-49 with 9:43 left. Gavin scored a three, a jumper, and another three on consecutive possessions to reestablish a seven-point barrier but the Bulldogs again whittled it back to a possession with 2:25 left in the contest.
 
UW-Parkside scored the first six points of the game and 19 of the first 23 points, owning s 32-19 lead at the halftime break.
 
Gavin finished with more than 20 points for the fourth straight game, leading all scorers after pouring on 28 points in 31 minutes of action. Zygimantas Riauka notched a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds along with three blocks and three assists while Andy Mazurczak finished with 12 points.
 
Seth Jackson, the GLVC's leading scorer, tallied 22 points for Truman State while Isaac Gardner tallied 17 off the bench. Cole Myers was the third Bulldog in double figures, adding 10 points along with six boards.
 
UW-Parkside controlled the glass, owning a 47-30 rebounding edge, including a 15-6 advantage in offensive boards. The Rangers held Truman to shooting just 25 percent (eight-for-32) from the field in the opening half but allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 58.1 percent (18-for-31) in the second half, finishing the contest shooting at a 41.3 percent (26-for-63) clip. The Rangers shot a nearly identical 41.4 percent (24-for-58) from the floor.
 
The GLVC East Co-Champion Rangers, winners of 10 straight, battle second-seeded and GLVC West Division Champion Drury University on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the second semifinal of the afternoon. Drury appears in the semis after downing the University of Missouri-Saint Louis 70-65 in overtime. Top-seeded Bellarmine University clashes with fourth-seeded University of Indianapolis in the opener at 12 p.m.