Rangers present new test for KWC - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

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Two days after turning back Saint Joseph's in a 102-92 shootout, Kentucky Wesleyan coach Todd Lee expects his No. 17 Panthers to get a different sort of test tonight against Wisconsin-Parkside.

"They're much more of a half-court team in comparison with Saint Joseph's," said Lee, whose club puts a 13-game winning streak on the line. "They're disciplined in the half-court, they always have good shooters, and they are very well coach by Luke Reigel.

"It's another Great Lakes Valley Conference game for us, so we know we've got to be ready to play. Home or away, nothing comes easy in this league."

KWC is led by 5-foot-8 senior point guard Desmond Stephens, who averages 17 points and seven assists per game. Other double-digit scorers include junior shooting guard Marico Stinson (12 ppg) and junior forward Chris Williams (12 ppg, 9 rpg), who led the Panthers with a career-high 28 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday against the Pumas.

"This will be another tough game for us," Williams said. "Every team in the league is capable of putting together spurts, and it comes down to how each team handles it. We handled it pretty good with some big spurts of our own (against Saint Joseph's), and hopefully, we'll continue to stay on a roll against Parkside."

Not only is KWC in the midst of a long victory streak, the Panthers have scored over 100 points in each of their last three games.

"We've got a pretty good offensive team -- several players capable of scoring the basketball," Lee said. "I like the unselfish nature of our play. For the most part, we're getting the ball to the open player, to the player with the best chance of scoring."

Other starters for Wesleyan (13-1, 2-0 GLVC) include 6-7 junior center Jay Ivey (8 ppg, 6 rpg) and 6-4 senior guard Maros Zuffa (9 ppg). The Panthers are strong off the bench with Willie Richardson (9 ppg), Andree' Wilson (9 ppg), Kwan Waller (8 ppg), Travis Owsley (5 ppg), and Shawn Rouse (4 ppg).

Wisconsin-Parkside (6-6, 1-2) is paced by 6-4 sophomore guard Grant Johnson (18 ppg, 6 rpg) and 6-6 freshman forward Jeremy Saffold (16 ppg, 5 rpg). Other starters for the young Rangers include 6-5 junior forward Zach Blesich (9 ppg, 5 rpg), 5-11 freshman guard Ryan Callozzo (6 ppg), and 6-7 freshman center Kevin Senechalle (5 ppg, 4 rpg).

The Rangers lost 82-75 at Bellarmine on Saturday night.

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