SOMERS, Wis. -- Wisconsin-Parkside shot 60.5 percent from the floor in the second half and outscored Illinois Springfield 62-40 as the No. 25 Rangers rallied to defeat the visiting Prairie Stars 92-76 on Thursday in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game in DeSimone Gymnasium.
The Rangers, who improved to 10-0 at home this season, had to fight off a game Illinois Springfield team. Vince Walker, who led all scorers with 29 points, had 17 points in the first half as the Prairie Stars held a surprising 36-30 advantage over Wisconsin-Parkside at halftime.
Wisconsin-Parkside, which improved to 16-3 overall and 8-2 in conference play, could not shake the Prairie Stars until late in the second half.
Goran Zagorac, who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, gave the Rangers the lead for good at 71-70 with a power move inside at the 4:43 mark of the second half. He followed with a three-point play to increase the margin to 74-70 with 4:24 remaining and then
Jake Verhagen drilled a three-pointer which pushed the lead to 77-70 at the 3:48 mark of the second half.
Walker answered with a pair of free throws for Illinois Springfield to cut the lead to 77-72 with 3:26 remaining in the game, but
Kendale McCullum hit a jumper in the lane and Verhagen made a pair of free throws to increase the lead to 81-72 with 2:15 left to play.
Eddie Longmeyer scored inside for the Prairie Stars, but
Kyle Flanagan and Verhagen converted back-to-back dunks giving Wisconsin-Parkside an 85-74 lead at the 1:48 mark of the second period.
Alexander Brown led the Rangers with 20 points, while Verhagen finished with 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. McCullum added 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Flanagan finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Rangers.
Illinois Springfield, which dropped to 7-12 overall and 2-8 in league play, received a brilliant performance from Walker who was 7-of-11 from the three-points line and he also added five rebounds. Paxton Harmon added 18 points and Logan Gonce finished with 10 points for the Prairie Stars.
Wisconsin-Parkside limited Illinois Springfield to 42.9 percent shooting from the floor in the second half and held a 39-26 advantage on the boards for the game. The Rangers had 14 offensive rebounds and outscored the Prairie Stars 23-2 on second-chance points. Wisconsin-Parkside also owned a 44-26 advantage in the paint for the game and the 62 points scored by the Rangers is the second-highest total in a half behind only the 65 first-half points scored against Indiana Northwest on Dec. 29
Following a layup by Brown, Illinois Springfield responded with a 13-3 run to take an early double-digit lead. Gonce began the run with a layup and Walker followed with a three-pointer to increase the lead to 17-11 with 11:43 to play in the first period.
Adam Bonk answered with a three-pointer for the Rangers, but Walker connected on back-to-back three-pointers and Gonce scored inside giving the Prairie Stars a 25-14 lead with 10:06 to play before halftime.
Illinois Springfield took its largest lead of the game at 29-16 when Kaj Davis made two free throws with 6:40 to play in the opening period.
The Rangers responded with a 14-2 run to climb back into the game. Brown connected on a three-pointer and Bonk added two three's which brought Wisconsin-Parkside to within 31-30 with 1:30 remaining in the half.
Illinois Springfield then got a layup by Zach Steinberg and a three-pointer from Walker to take a 36-30 lead into the intermission.
The second half featured seven ties and eight lead changes as the Rangers were not able to assume control of the game until later in the period.
Wisconsin-Parkside returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 28) when it hosts McKendree at 3 p.m. in DeSimone Gymnasium.
