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

Box Score

LEBANON, Ill. (Jan. 28, 2016)-- Tasting defeat for the first time in nearly two months, the 21st-ranked University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team had its 11-game win streak snapped on Thursday night, succumbing 92-85 to McKendree University in a Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division tilt inside the Statham Center.
 
The visiting Rangers (15-3, 8-2 GLVC) owned a nine-point edge early in the second half only to get outscored by a 36-16 margin over the next 11 minutes, staring at an 11-point hole with 8:18 left in the game. UW-Parkside narrowed the gap to just single point with 4:32 left thanks to a 12-2 run but was unable to reestablish the lead as the Bearcats hit shots down the stretch when it mattered to hold on for the win.
 
McKendree's David Franklin extended McKendree's lead to five with 1:28 left after completing a three-point play with a layup and a free throw. Jalen Currie reduced the gap to a possession after drilling a three but Nate Michael hit a jumper with a minute left to push the gap to four while the hosts hit five free throws in the last 60 seconds to net the win and give Head Coach Harry Statham his milestone 1,098th career win, tying former University of Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt for the most collegiate basketball victories in history.
 
McKendree scored seven of the game's opening nine points but the Rangers methodically fought back, taking their first lead of the game off an Andy Mazurczak basket with 12:31 remaining before halftime and owning a 45-38 edge at the intermission.
 
Mazurczak led the Rangers, scoring 25 points in 27 minutes of play while securing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. Kendale McCullum added 17 points while Chavares Flanigan had 15 off the bench.
 
Franklin proved unstoppable on Thursday night, piling on 33 points and 11 rebounds while Michael Jackson and Nate Michael each added 20.
 
The Rangers outscored the Bearcats 44-30 in the pain while owning a 26-8 edge in bench points in a contest with 10 lead changes and eight ties. UW-Parkside shot 53.1 percent (34-for-64) from the floor but struggled from three-point range, misfiring on the first nine attempts of the night and finishing three-for-21 (14.3 percent).
 
Parkside returns to action on Saturday afternoon, facing the University of Illinois Springfield at 3 p.m. to close out the road trip.