Upper Iowa 82, Parkside 68
The visiting Peacocks hit every big shot they needed down the stretch against the Parkside men's basketball team Saturday afternoon, as Upper Iowa downed the Rangers 82-68 on day two of the HARIBO Invitational.
 
Parkside will head into Thanksgiving at 2-2 overall while the Peacocks stayed perfect at 4-0 this season. The Rangers next home game will be Saturday, Nov. 27 against Findlay, as the East West game originally scheduled for Nov. 26 has been moved to Feb. 22, 2022.
 
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 HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams went back-and-forth in the first 10:00, but Upper Iowa jumped out to a big 12-point advantage with 2:38 to play and took a 38-29 lead into the break.
 
In the second half, it seemed like every time the Rangers got close, the Peacocks answered with a bucket of their own. After a Jamir Simpson field goal and a Vinson Sigmon Jr. triple, the Rangers found themselves down six, but the UIU answered. Later in the half, Bryce Prochaska hit a 3-pointer, but again UIU answered, that time with a 9-0 run. Parkside didn't score the final 3:28 of the ball game as the Peacocks pulled away.
 
STATWORTHY
Redshirt-senior Tray Croft led the Rangers for the fourth straight game in scoring with 17 points and grabbed four rebounds. Redshirt-freshman Jamir Simpson had his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while freshman Rasheed Bello had 12 points and three assists.
 
As a team, Parkside shot 39.7% from the floor and 32% from downtown. UIU shot 50.8% and went 12-of-25 from deep. Rebounds went even at 30-30 and the Rangers went -2 in the turnover battle.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside's next ball game will take place on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. against Findlay. The game scheduled against East West has been moved to Feb. 22, 2022.