KENOSHA, Wis. --- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside men's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the young season Saturday night, defeating the Ashland University Eagles by a final score of 74-66.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-       Rasheed Bello had a big night, finishing with 22 points on 7-15 shooting. He also had six assists, three steals, and four rebounds. 
-       Jamir Simpson put another solid performance together, finishing with 20 points on 8-13 shooting. He also had seven rebounds.
-       Parkside knocked down 11 threes and was 7-8 from the free-throw line on the night. 
 
Hear from Head Coach Luke Reigel
"That was a hard-fought quality win tonight against a very good program in Ashland. We did an outstanding job executing in the second half. I thought our ball movement and unselfishness was the key to our comeback. Defensively I thought we competed hard for all 40 minutes and we will continue to get better on that end. It was a good weekend overall. I look forward to hosting another tournament in De Simone next weekend."
 
How it happened
Nick Brown got the scoring going for the day, hitting a three on the Rangers' first offensive possession of the game. Both sides battled back and forth from there, as the lead changed sides nine times in the opening 20 minutes. Ashland was able to build out their largest lead of the game late in the first half. After a Javon Johnson floater gave Parkside a 30-29 lead with 2:32 to go in the half, Ashland was able to go on 8-0 run over the remainder of the half to take a 37-30 lead into the break. Bello had 13 of the 30 Parkside points in the opening 20 minutes. 
 
Parkside slowly cut into the Ashland advantage early in the second half. Simpson and Colin O'Rourke scored two quick baskets to pull Parkside back within three. Unlike the first half, there was just one lead change in the second half, it came with 16:18 to go in the game. Simpson was able to drive into the lane before pulling up to knock down a jumper to give Parkside a 41-40 lead. 
 
The Rangers quickly added on, getting a three from Josiah Palmer and a fast break layup by Simpson off a Bello steal. Parkside's lead reached double figures for the first time on the night with 12:10 to go when Ethan Ivan knocked down a three from the wing. The lead stayed in double figures for most of the half, but Ashland was able to keep things interesting late. 
 
The Eagles cut the Ranger advantage to single digits with 3:19 remaining. On two separate occasions, Ashland cut the Parkside advantage to just five points, but the strong free-throw shooting of the Rangers was too much for Ashland to overcome. Parkside outscored Ashland 44-29 in the second half, getting 15 points from Simpson on 6-8 shooting.
 
The Rangers improve to 2-0 on the season and now will prepare for the HARIBO Invitational, which takes place inside of De Simone Arena at HARIBO Court over November 18-19.  Parkside opens the weekend against Winona State on Friday night at 7:00pm. Links to coverage, including the live stream through FloSports can be found at ParksideRangers.com/coverage.