SOMERS, Wis. – In stunning fashion, the UW-Parkside men's basketball team ended top-ranked Bellarmine's perfect season with an incredible 80-68 win Saturday afternoon at DeSimone Gymnasium, same day as the 12
th Annual Ranger Day at the Games.
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"This win shows the character of the young men in this program," head coach
Luke Reigel said. "Every day they come to work and compete and this is something that shows up in the toughest of times."
Bellarmine came into Saturday's game at 14-0 overall, 5-0 in the GLVC and ranked No. 1 in the nation according to the latest Division II Sports Information Directors of America Poll. With the win, the Rangers move to 5-10 overall and 3-2 in the league while extending their season-high winning streak to three games.
"There is no doubt we took advantage of the schedule," Reigel added. "We had a great week of practice and kept our guys fresh while Bellarmine had a tough road game at Lewis."
It was a back-and-forth game all afternoon, with both squads absorbing each other's runs, until the final 2:30 of the game where the Rangers took over. With Parkside clinging to a narrow 60-58 lead with 2:33 to play, Bellarmine's Chivarsky Corbett was whistled for a technical foul and the Rangers outscored the Knights 20-10 from then on. The run featured a monstrous dunk by
Goran Zagorac and clutch free-throw shooting by the Green & White, who went 18-of-20 from the line following the technical. The Knights' bench was also given a technical foul with 1:25 to play.
In the first half, the Rangers jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held Bellarmine scoreless over 4:00 in to the game. Parkside didn't let Bellarmine within five points the rest of the first half en route to a 39-29 lead at the break. Bellarmine answered in the second half, taking its first and only lead of the game at 50-49 with 8:22 to play.
Jameel Moore took the lead right back with an and-one that got the crowd roaring and Parkside never trailed again.
The red-hot Rangers finished the game shooting 57.5-percent from the field, 50-percent from the 3-point line and an amazing 26-of-28 from the free-throw line. Parkside won the rebounding battle 23-22 and turnovers went even at 17 apiece.
Individually, Parkside had an extremely balanced attack with five players in double-figures.
Adam Bonk led the way with 16 points while Zagorac went 7-for-9 from the floor for 15 points and a pair of dunks. Moore finished with 13 points while
Espen Fjaerestad and
Bret Barclay had 12.
It's a busy week for Parkside, with home games Monday (Lewis, 7:30 p.m.), Thursday (William Jewell, 7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (Rockhurst, 3 p.m.)