LAKELAND, Fla. --- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers men's basketball team hit the floor on Saturday night in the first true road regular season contest of the 2022-23 season. The Rangers battled the #18 ranked Florida Southern Mocs for all 40 minutes, but in the end, two late baskets for Florida Southern were enough to down Parkside 74-73.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Colin O'Rourke led the Rangers with 22 points on 9-17 shooting. He knocked down four threes and led the team with eight rebounds.
- Jamir Simpson recorded his third 20+ point effort of the season, finishing with 20 points on 8-15 shooting.
- Rasheed Bello finished with 17 points and five rebounds. He was 8-10 from the free throw line on the night.
- Parkside outshot the Mocs on the night, 43.1% (25-58) to 38.6% (22-57)
HEAR FROM COACH Luke Reigel
"Our kids put together an incredible defensive effort tonight. We held a great Florida Southern team well below their average. It really was one of the best defensive efforts out program has produced in a few years. Unfortunately we just didn't execute well enough in the final 30 seconds to finish off the game. I need to put our guys in a little better position in those late game situations so we can put these games away. So what could have been an incredible trip will now go down as just a very nice trip. Our team bonded and we had a very good time. Just wish we could have come home with two wins instead of one. We look forward to getting back to De Simone Arena and getting ready for a home stand this next week"
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers came ready to play in the first true road contest of the 2022-23 season. O'Rourke and Simpson delivered the first two baskets of the game to give Parkside the early advantage. O'Rourke scored 11 of his 22 points in the first half, going 4-9 from the field and 3-6 from behind the arc.
Florida Southern countered the early Parkside run with a large run of their own, building up an eight-point advantage with 11:25 to go in the first half. The eight-point lead would be the largest of the night for the Mocs. Parkside slowly cut into the deficit, pulling even at 23 on a Javon Johnson driving layup. Florida Southern was able to get two of the last three baskets of the half to take a 33-29 lead into the halftime break.
Parkside quickly worked to grab the lead early in the second half. The Rangers pulled even at 33 with 17:43 to go in the game on a
Josiah Palmer and one driving layup. Parkside continued to add to the lead, expanding it to six on a string of free throws from Bello.
The Mocs grabbed the lead back following the under 12-minute media timeout, but the Rangers continued to battle. The Mocs were able to expand their advantage out to five with 10:54 to go in the contest before the Rangers could battle back.
Parkside continued to work the ball inside, pulling even at 57 on a jump shot from Simpson in the paint. Simpson then gave Parkside the lead with 5:56 to go on a step-back jump shot. The Rangers held the lead down the stretch, but a pair of late turnovers with under ten seconds to go in the game allowed #18 ranked Florida Southern to escape with the 74-73 win.
Three Rangers scored in double figures in the second half, led by Simpson with 16 on 6-8 shooting. Parkside had nine assists on 14 made field goals in the half. Parkside will now prepare for GLIAC play which begins on Thursday night inside De Simone Arena. Opening tip is set for 7:30pm on Thursday night. Links to coverage including the live stream through FloSports can be found at parksiderangers.com/coverage.
