Parkside 84, Clarke 72
On the night Parkside's home gym was rededicated as Alfred & Bernice De Simone Arena, the men's basketball team used a big second half to run away from Clarke in a nonconference matchup Tuesday night. Redshirt-senior Tray Croft went for 18 points in the second half en route to a game-high 27 points to lead the Rangers.
 
With the win, Parkside moved to 5-5 overall, 2-4 at home and 1-0 in the newly named De Simone Arena, which took place directly before game time. Be on the lookout on ParksideRangers.com on Wednesday for the full story about the rededication of Alfred & Bernice De Simone Arena.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first half, the teams traded the lead back-and-forth for the first 10:00 minutes until Parkside used a 9-0 run to take a 26-17 lead and they wouldn't trail the rest of the night. Clarke kept it interesting, trailing 36-35 at the half and staying within single digits for much of the second half.
 
The Rangers pulled away in the final 7:00 minutes of the second half thanks to some hot shooting and ball movement, as Tray Croft and Vinson Sigmon Jr. began to heat up. Croft had a stretch where he scored 16 of teams 18 points and Sigmon Jr. had a stretch where he scored 10 of Parkside's 13 points. Thanks to these two, the lead swelled to as many as 18 for the Rangers down the stretch and the victory was never in doubt. 
 
STATWORTHY
Croft finished with a game-high 27 points and went 4-of-6 from deep. He also added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists. Sigmon Jr. finished with 17 points and seven rebounds while going 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Jamir Simpson, the reigning GLIAC North Player of the Week, finished with 13 points and six rebounds.
 
Parkside shot 32-of-68 (47.1%) and went 9-of-23 from 3-point range. The Rangers went +4 in rebounding and -2 in the turnover battle.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Parkside will take the weekend off, but will battle Missouri-St. Louis in a nonconference matchup on Monday, Dec. 20 at 4 p.m. for Holiday Hoops, presented by Boat House Pub and Eatery in Kenosha, a new member of the Parkside Partners Program. Fans are encouraged to head to the Boat House following Monday's game. For tickets for Monday, or any Parkside Athletics event, head over to ParksideRangers.com/Tickets.