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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 13, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team, winners of six straight, look to continue its momentum this week, packing three games into a five-day stretch. The Rangers hit the road and face a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference foes from Saint Louis over the weekend before squaring off against nemesis Lewis University in a Martin Luther King Day Showdown on Monday.
 
The Rangers begin the road swing on Thursday against the University of Missouri-Saint Louis with a 7 p.m. tipoff. The trip concludes on Saturday with a 3 p.m. meeting against Maryville University and return to DeSimone Gymnasium on Monday, hosting Lewis at 7:30 p.m. Live stats, video, and audio of all three games will be available.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (10-2, 3-1 GLVC) extended its home GLVC winning streak to 26 games last weekend, blowing away Missouri University S&T 89-69 on Thursday before defeating Drury University 84-67 on Saturday in a game televised nationally by the American Sports Network.
 
Against S&T, five Rangers ended the game in double figures including Andy Mazurczak who closed the contest one point shy of a career-high after sinking 10 of his 11 shots from the field. The visiting Miners hung tough, erasing a 13-point halftime deficit and tying the game at 53 with 12:53 remaining but UW-Parkside seized control over the final nine minutes of the game. Outscoring the Miners by a 31-15 margin.
 
Kendale McCullum had 10 points and a game-high 10 assists while Chavares Flanigan, Jake Verhagen, and Alexander Brown added 15, 13, and 12, points, respectively.
 
A similar script unfolded against Drury on Saturday with the Rangers' proving to be too dominant in the second half, turning a five-point deficit into a 17-point win over the final nine minutes in a contest featuring nine lead changes and nine ties.
 
Mazurczak again stole the show, netting 24 points with eight rebounds while McCullum and Brown added 19 and 16 points, apiece.
 
Three Rangers average in double figures this season with Mazurczak leading the way with a 18.1 points per game average. The senior guard additionally sports a 4.2 assists per game average while securing 4.3 rebounds per game. Brown chips in 13.9 ppg while McCullum offers 13.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and a team-best 2.6 steals per game. Goran Zagorac adds 8.7 ppg along with a team-high 8.4 rpg.
 
UW-Parkside sits second in the GLVC in scoring margin at +13.3 while sitting third in the conference in scoring defense (70.4 points per game) and three-point field goal percentage (40.4 percent).
 
Jan. 14 vs. University of Missouri-Saint Louis at Mark Twain Building (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: UW-Parkside and UMSL have tangled 31 times with the Green and White holding a 20-11 edge in the all-time series. The Rangers were victorious last season, downing the Tritons 76-61 on Jan. 10 inside DeSimone Gymnasium with Andy Mazurczak pouring on 22 points.
 
About the Tritons: Missouri-Saint Louis (6-8, 0-5 GLVC) heads into Thursday looking to snap and three-game slide and notch its first win of the GLVC season. The Tritons capped off 2015 with a pair of wins at the Maryville Tournament, downing Trevecca Nazarene University 94-91 in overtime on Dec. 19 before netting a 73-71 win over Saint Leo University the next day. 2016 hasn't been as kind to the Tritons, falling 91-87 to non-league foe East Central University on Jan. 2 while suffering a 96-85 setback at the hands of host Saint Joseph's College and a 79-68 setback to 25th-ranked University of Indianapolis on Saturday.
 
Against Saint Joe's, the Tritons stormed out of the gate, netting the opening 12 points of the game but was unable to capitalize on the early lead, eventually succumbing to the host Pumas. Two days later, UMSL again owned an early lead against the hosts, holding a six-point buffer just five minutes into the contest but was unable to sustain the edge, staring at a 10-point deficit at the break.
 
Brandon Marquardt is UMSL's leading scorer, averaging 15.5 points per game while Cortee Conners and Joseph English both offer 10.1 ppg. Joshua Webster and Tre Hymer lurk just shy of averaging in double figures, both averaging 9.4 ppg while Alex Majewski leads the team on the glass with 4.5 rebounds per game.
 
UMSL leads the GLVC in three-point field goal percentage, hitting 40.9 percent of its chances and ranks second in both assists (17.57 per game) and assist/turnover ratio (1.41) but sits dead last in the league in free throw percentage (69.1 percent) and rebounding offense (32.6).
 
Jan. 16 vs. Maryville University at Moloney Arena (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Saints have battled just five times on the court with UW-Parkside winning four of those meetings. Last season host UW-Parkside led wire-to-wire in a 70-56 victory on Jan. 8 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Saints: Maryville (7-8, 1-4 GLVC) heads into Thursday's tilt with Lewis looking to bust out of a two-game slump to start GLVC play in 2016. The Saints opened January with an 89-78 non-conference victory over the University of Arkansas-Monticello on Jan. 2 before suffering road setbacks at the hands of No. 25 UIndy (82-75) and Saint Joseph's (87-71) last weekend.
 
Maryville's lone GLVC win came at the expense of travel partner and winless UMSL, downing the Tritons 68-64 on Dec. 12.
 
Against nationally-ranked UIndy, Marvin Grant-Clark poured on a career-high 37 points, shooting 72 percent from the field, but it was not enough as the host Hounds came away with the seven-point victory. Against St. Joe's, the Saints led by 11 at the halftime break but a 19-4 Puma run in the second half ultimately derailed Maryville in the 16-point defeat.
 
Grant-Clark is one of three Saints that average in double figures, leading the way with a 15.9 points per game average. Forrester Sims drops 13.7 ppg while Max Mischkulnig offers 11.9 ppg with a team-best 5.6 rebounds per game and 20 blocks.
 
Maryville sits atop the league statistically in assists with 17.73 per game and ranks second in field goal percentage (50.1 percent), while ranks 16th (out of 16) in three-point field goal defense, allowing the opposition to shoot at a 39.9 percent clip.
 
Jan. 18 vs. Lewis University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: UW-Parkside and Lewis have slugged it out 65 times on the hardwood with the Flyers owning a 37-28 edge in the all-time series. The Rangers and Flyers met three times last season with Parkside prevailing 69-65 on Jan. 19 in Romeoville, Illinois and 73-68 inside DeSimone Gymnasium on Feb. 26 before getting bitten 70-62 on Mar. 14 in the NCAA Division II Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky.
 
About the Flyers: Lewis (10-4, 2-2 GLVC) embarks on a three-game road swing this week having dropped two of its last three games. The Flyers opened 2016 with a 75-55 setback to NAIA University of Saint Francis on Jan. 2 before falling 71-54 to Drury on Jan. 7. Lewis returned to the win column on Saturday, slipping past Missouri S&T 84-80.
 
Against Drury, a rough opening half proved the difference-maker as the visiting Panthers roared out to a 40-23 halftime edge while forcing 20 Lewis turnovers in the game. Delaney Blaylock and Frank Vukaj provided a one-two punch on Saturday, combining for 45 points as the hosts staved off a late Miner rally to net the win.
 
Max Strus is the Flyers' leading scorer and rebounder, racking up a GLVC-best 22.1 points per game along with 8.9 rebounds per game. Kyle Nelson averages 10.8 ppg and 7.6 rpg while Blaylock adds 10.6 ppg. Strus, Nelson, and Blaylock are the three players to have started all 14 games this season for Lewis.
 
The Flyers pace the GLVC in both blocks (4.79 blocks per game) and defensive rebounds (28.43) and sits second in field goal percentage defense (41.2 percent) and rebounding offense (38.9).
 
National Rankings: UW-Parkside ranks 17th in NCAA Division II in fewest fouls with 209 while sitting 22nd in field goal percentage (49.6 percent) and 23rd in both scoring margin (+13.3) and three-point field goal percentage (40.4 percent).
 
Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2015-2016 season, 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 the University of Indianapolis, Saint Joseph's College, and travel partner Lewis University. Pod mates rotate every two years with the Rangers previously paired with Lewis, University of Illinois Springfield and McKendree University from 2013-2015.
 
Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside is picked to finish fifth in the GLVC East in 2015-2016 according to the league's 16 head coaches.
 
The Rangers (26-4, 17-1 GLVC) accumulated 71 points in the poll, securing the No. 5 spot in the eight-team East Division and owning a 30-point cushion on sixth place University of Illinois Springfield (11-16, 5-13 GLVC). National semifinalist and GLVC East Co-Champion Bellarmine University (31-4, 17-1 GLVC) sits atop the poll, collecting 119 points and 14 of the 16 first place votes.
 
The University of Indianapolis (25-6, 14-4 GLVC) is second with 101 points and one first place nod while the University of Southern Indiana (19-8, 12-6 GLVC) is third with 87 points and the remaining first place endorsement. Lewis University (22-9, 12-6 GLVC) rounds out the upper half of the division, slotting fourth with 81 points.
 
UIS is sixth with 41 points, followed by McKendree University (11-15, 4-14 GLVC) in seventh (35 points) and Saint Joseph's College (6-22, 3-15 GLVC) in eighth (33 points).
 
In the West Division, defending GLVC Tournament Champion Drury University (21-9, 12-6 GLVC) ranks No. 1 with 115 points and 11 first place endorsements. One point is all that separates No. 2 from No. 3 with Truman State University (20-10, 11-7 GLVC) grabbing 92 points to snag second while Quincy University(13-16, 7-11 GLVC)  is third with 91 points. Both Truman State and Quincy collected two first place votes. The University of Missouri-Saint Louis (19-11, 10-8 GLVC) rounds out the upper half of the division, netting 82 points and the final first place vote.
 
Maryville University (12-17, 6-12 GLVC) is fifth with 70 points followed by William Jewell College (13-14, 9-9 GLVC) in sixth (45 points), Missouri University S&T (9-17, 2-16 GLVC) in seventh (38 points) and Rockhurst University (7-19, 3-15 GLVC) in eighth (35 points).

Milestone Maz: Senior guard Andy Mazurczak eclipsed the 1,000-point barrier for his career on Nov. 17 against Silver Lake College with a 20-point outburst against the Lakers. Point 1,000 came on a fast-break layup with 10:12 left in the second half. Mazurczak additionally surpassed Walter Greene (1978-1981) for fourth on the all-time assists list in the same game and currently sits with 377 career assists, good for third on the all-time charts. His performance helped the sport management major earn GLVC Player of the Week honors on Nov. 23 while earning the honor again on Jan. 11 after surpassing Marlon Grice (1998-2002) for third on the all-time assists list.
 
Non-Conference Mastery: The Rangers have dominated non-conference play over the last four seasons, owning a 34-7 record in regular season non-league clashes. UW-Parkside wrapped up this season with a 7-1 record during the non-conference slate. Last season the Rangers tallied an 8-1 non-league mark while going 7-1 in both 2013-2014 and 2011-2012 and posting a 5-3 record in 2012-2013.
 
Home Cooking: UW-Parkside has won 26 consecutive 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 31 of their last 33 games at home, including a stretch of 16 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 13th season as head coach and his 16th season overall at UW-Parkside in 2015-2016.

Reigel, the GLVC Coach of the Year in both 2013 and 2015, has guided the Rangers to three straight GLVC East Division crowns while also earning Jack Bennett Man of the Year Award and Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors in 2013. The Wisconsin native sits second on the all-time wins list with 181 wins and has guided the Rangers to four NCAA Tournament berths.

Returning to the sidelines will be associate coach Keven Bradley along with assistants Tom Reigel and Andy Fitzgerald.