KENOSHA, Wis. -- Purdue Northwest had an answer for every Parkside basket, it seemed, Tuesday night as the Pride went on the road and defeated the Rangers by a final score of 84-75.

PNW improved to 7-7 (7-7 GLIAC) with four games remaining on the regular season schedule. The Pride, who have already set a new program record for most GLIAC league wins, currently sit tied with Lake Superior State for third place in the GLIAC North Division.

"We knew we hadn't played well defensively, and our guys stepped up on that end tonight," PNW head coach Boomer Roberts said. "Parkside is really well-coached and had been playing great, so we had to come in and execute, and we did that.

"X (Xavier Allison) made a lot of big plays, Jyro (Jyrus Freels) was really efficient, and Vince (Miszkiewicz) and AB (Anthony Barnard) were great on the glass. Kell (Cooper) has been playing better and better, and (Jacob) Stone and Logan (Phillips) gave us great minutes off the bench. We need to keep getting better, but it was a good way to start a three game road week."

Four players scored double digits for PNW, led by Jyrus Freels with 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Freels added seven rebounds, two assists and a block. Xavier Allison scored a career-high 16 points while Mikell Cooper recorded 14 points, team-high six assists and four boards. Anthony Barnard went a perfect 6 for 6 at the charity stripe and had 12 points and seven rebounds. Vincent Miszkiewicz continued to dominate the glass with a game-high 12 rebounds with eight points, four assists and two blocks. He leads the GLIAC with 11.5 rebounds per game.

Parkside (8-6, 8-6 GLIAC) clung to an 18-17 advantage after the two teams logged 10 lead changes in a see-saw affair during the opening eight minutes of the contest.

However, a Jacob Stone 3-pointer put PNW on top 20-18 with 10:08 left in the opening half, and the Pride never trailed again.

The Black & Gold held on for a 37-34 halftime lead after shooting 50 percent from the floor. PNW scored 28 points in the paint and tallied 11 of the team's 20 assists in the first half.

A three made by Cooper early in the second half extended the PNW lead to eight, but the teams kept trading baskets. The Rangers trimmed the deficit to three after a floating jump shot made the score 61-58 at the eight-minute mark.

Then, PNW put together a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach. Another Cooper trey ignited the spurt which was capped by a Freels layup at the 4:28 mark to move the Pride ahead, 73-60. PNW sealed the win by going 10 for 10 on free throws in the final stretch.

Parkside's Solomon Oraegbu recorded a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the Rangers. Vinson Sigmon Jr. finished with 15 points while Bryce Prochaska had 11.

With the win, PNW avenged a 12-point loss to the Rangers back on Jan. 26 in Hammond. Parkside shot 55 percent in that previous matchup, but on Tuesday night, PNW buckled down to limit the Rangers to 41-percent shooting.

NEXT UP
PNW continues the road swing with a trip to Ferris State this weekend. The Pride will take on the Bulldogs (7-8, 6-6 GLIAC) on Friday and Saturday with both games slated for a 3 p.m. CST tipoff.