KENOSHA, Wis. --- The University of Wisconsin – Parkside men's basketball team opened up the 2022-23 season inside De Simone Arena on Friday night at The Nexus Classic in front of a boisterous crowd. The Rangers road the momentum to an eight-point halftime lead before downing the visiting Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers by a final score of 73-59.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
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Nick Brown led the offense with 22 points on 6-10 shooting. Brown was also a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
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Rasheed Bello had a strong opening night performance, finishing with 17 points on 7-12 shooting. He also had a team-high six assists.
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Jamir Simpson was the third Ranger to reach double figures, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds.
- Parkside finished the night with 38 points in the paint and 14 points off turnovers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colin O'Rourke netted the first points of the 2022-23 season on a layup just under two minutes into the contest. Parkside added onto the lead quickly, getting a three from brown and a jumper from
Josiah Palmer to extend the early lead to 7-2.
The Panthers slowly clawed their way back, taking the lead at 15-14 just before the midpoint of the half. The two sides traded baskets over the next few minutes, with the lead changing sides six different times. Brown, Bello, and Palmer helped to power a late Parkside run, which extended the lead to eight, giving the Rangers a 38-30 lead at the break.
Kentucky Wesleyan netted the first basket of the second half, but a pair of O'Rourke free throws and a Brown three quickly extended the Parkside lead to double figures for the first time of the night. The Panthers cut the deficit to single digits just one more time on the night as the Parkside offense began to click. A 9-0 Parkside run continued to build on the momentum, with a three by
Javon Johnson extending the Parkside advantage to 52-34 with 13:24 remaining in the half.
The Panthers were only able to cut the Parkside lead to 11 the rest of the way, as the Rangers closed out the 73-59 victory to open the season.
Parkside will now ready for the second day of the 2022 Nexus Classic on Saturday evening. The Rangers are slated to take on the Ashland Eagles on Saturday night, with the opening tip set for 7:00pm. Links to tickets and coverage can be found at parksiderangers.com/coverage.
