PARKSIDE 75, LAKE SUPERIOR STATE 68
Parkside men's basketball is no stranger to close games as of late, and Tuesday's GLIAC Quarterfinal matchup was no different. LSSU took a 61-60 lead with 4:29 to play, but the No. 3 seeded Rangers outscored the No. 6 Lakers 15-7 the rest of the way to come out with the gritty win to make it 11 straight home victories inside DeSimone Gymnasium.

Parkside will move on to the GLIAC Semifinals in Grand Rapids, Mich., against the No. 7 seed Grand Valley State on Saturday, March 9 for a 4:30 p.m. CT tip. GVSU knocked off the No. 2 seed Ashland while No. 1 Davenport narrowly beat No. 8 Northwood. The host Davenport will battle Northern Michigan on Saturday before the Rangers take the floor against GVSU.


DOWN THE STRETCH
The Lakers took their first lead of the second half on a 7-0 run with 4:29 to play in the game, going up 61-60, but the Rangers responded with a 7-0 run of their own and never trailed again. Chavares Flanigan scored seven of the teams' final 15 points including an exclamation point dunk on a full court pass to help end the game.


CLOSE GAME THROUGHOUT
LSSU led in the early minutes, and Parkside grabbed its first lead at the 13:46 mark on a D'Aaron Owens triple. The teams traded the lead back-and-forth the rest of the way, as neither team led by more than five points during the first half. Parkside took a 36-33 lead into the half after Adam Bonk connected on a 3-pointer on the Rangers' final possession.

In the second half, Parkside extended the lead to seven points with 15:51 to go and again with 10:48 to go, but that was the largest lead until the end.


STATWORTHY
Bonk and Ramar Evans led the team with 14 points each, while Bonk went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc and Evans finished 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Flanigan finished with nine points, all of which came in the second half, and eight assists and six rebounds. Brandon Trimble had 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench while Brandon Hau finished with 11 points and Joey St. Pierre had six blocks.

Rog Stein led all scorers with 22 points and also added nine rebounds. Parkside went 16-of-18 at the free-throw line and shot 50-percent from the floor while the Lakers finished 26-of-62 from the floor and 7-of-16 at the free-throw line.

The Rangers went 3-0 against LSSU this season, with all games being decided by single digits. The Rangers' last 10 games this season have been decided by single digits. 

WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will battle another Lakers team, this one being Grand Valley State on Saturday, March 9 on the campus of Davenport at 4:30 p.m. CT. Go HERE for the GLIAC Tournament Central. Davenport, due to being new to NCAA Division II, is ineligible for NCAA postseason play. So if Davenport makes the championship game, whoever they are facing (Parkside or GVSU) will be the automatic qualifier into the NCAA II Tournament.