BRADLEY 74, PARKSIDE 58
With the exception of a few Bradley runs in the first half, Parkside men's basketball made it a ball game in their exhibition with the Division I Braves. Bradley got a huge lift in rebounding, where they won that battle 43-25. The Rangers officially open the 2018-19 season next Thursday against Clarke at home at 7 p.m.
 
HEAR FROM COACH REIGEL
"I thought tonight was a great learning experience for us," 16^th year head coach Luke Reigel said. "Just having an opportunity to play an actual game rather than a scrimmage means a lot to our players. We had a lot of guys get some good experience and to have them get good minutes against a very good Missouri Valley team is that much better."
 
"Coach Brian Wardle has a very good team that played very physical defense tonight," Reigel added. "You can tell they have a veteran group and I think they are going to have an outstanding year."
 
FIRST HALF
Bradley opened the game on a 12-0 run and ended the half on a 9-0 run, but the Green & White were extremely tough in the middle portion of the first half. After back-to-back triples by Cameron Myre, the Rangers brought it to a two-point Braves lead at 28-26. Joey St. Pierre connected on a layup just before the 4:00 media timeout, but that was the Rangers' last bucket of the first half. Bradley took a 40-28 lead into the locker room.
 
SECOND HALF
In the second half, the Braves opened on an 8-0 run and led 48-28 at the first media timeout. The teams battled back-and-forth in the middle minutes of the second half, until the Rangers went on a run late that was triggered by another Myre 3-pointer that ended in a 13-3 Parkside run and a 72-55 Bradley lead.
 
WHO LED THE WAY
Redshirt-freshman Brandon Trimble provided a nice spark off the bench and tied redshirt-senior Chavares Flanigan with the team-lead in points at 11. Myre went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc for nine points while Adam Bonk had seven and D'Aaron Owens had six. Brandon Hau led the team in rebounds with five while Owens had a team-high three assists.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers officially open the 2018-19 season next week Thursday at home against Clarke College. Be sure to come out the DeSimone to see the new court, new branding initiatives and Ranger men's basketball.