UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich, --- The Parkside men's basketball team continued their strong start to the 2022-23 season on Friday night, defeating the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals by a final score of 77-62. The Rangers never trailed in the contest, knocking down ten first-half threes en route to their eighth win of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- All five Parkside starters scored in double figures, led by
Josiah Palmer with 18 points on 6-10 shooting. He was 4-8 shooting from deep.
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Rasheed Bello was just two rebounds shy of a double-double, finishing the night with 17 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
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Jamir Simpson had 15 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists.
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Colin O'Rourke and Nick brown scored 12 and 10 points respectively.
- Parkside shot 76.9 percent in the first half while going 10-14 from deep.
HEAR FROM COACH Luke Reigel
"A very nice way to start the road trip. We did an outstanding job of attacking their pressure in the first half. Our ball movement was excellent and we played so unselfishly. Each guy on the floor was trying to make a teammate better.
We knew they would make a run in the second half and I thought we were able to hang on because we took care of the ball and played well defensively
It was a good win overall and good momentum to lead into Sunday."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers scored the opening basket of the game on a Bello jumper in the paint and never looked back. Parkside led for a total of 39:14 in the contest, with the lead reaching 27 early in the second half.
The Parkside lead reached double digits for the first time with 15:38 to go in the first half when Palmer hit back-to-back threes. Palmer was a perfect 4-4 from deep in the first half, scoring 14 points. The Rangers continued to add to the lead, going on a 13-0 run late in the first half to extend the lead to 43-19. Parkside hit three triples during the run, including two from Brown and one from
Javon Johnson.
Parkside took a 52-27 lead into the halftime break. Three different Rangers scored in double figures in the first half, led by Palmer with 14. Simpson scored 12 in the first half while pulling down six rebounds. Bello had 11 first-half points. The Rangers also controlled the boards in the first half, out-rebounding the Cardinals 15-6.
The Rangers' lead hit the high point of 27 on the first Parkside possession of the second half when Bello rolled in a layup. Saginaw Valley State battled back throughout the second half, pulling as close as 11, but the Rangers were able to go 10-13 from the free throw line in the second half to close out the Cardinals by a final score of 77-62.
Parkside will look to continue the strong start on Saturday against Wayne State. Opening tip is set for 2:00pm (CST). Links to coverage including the live stream through FloSports can be found at ParksideRangers.com/coverage.
