ALVA, Okla. – Northwestern Oklahoma State's men's basketball team seems to have just now hit their stride going into the second portion of the season, which is perfect timing.

The Rangers wrapped up the first half portion of the conference schedule by winning five out of six games against the Oklahoma schools in the Great American Conference. The quality stretch of play included wins over arch-rival Southwestern as well as East Central, who was riding a 12 game winning streak before losing to Northwestern. Head coach Shawn Dirden knows that a run like the one the Rangers just finished up could be exactly what they needed to vault into the top half of the conference standings.

"I think the thing the guys got the most out of it is knowing they can close out quality teams and we're going to face more quality teams in the coming weeks starting with Harding and Arkansas Tech," coach Dirden said. "It served as kind of a statement game that If we pull together for 40 minutes we can be in the game with anyone."

The Rangers will look to use the stretch not only as a confidence booster, but also as a model of how to win against top-tier conference teams. The Rangers will need to pick up some wins against the Arkansas-based schools that now occupy the top six spots of the GAC standings. Northwestern did keep the scoring differential in single digits in five  of their six contests against those schools the first time around, showing that the Rangers weren't far off in the first half of the conference schedule from taking out the top teams in the conference.

"I think the talents always been there and the number one thing that we've addressed since day one is trust and belief," coach Dirden said "I think the guys are seeing that they're trusting in each and working hard for each other and how beneficial that is in giving us a chance to win."

The Rangers will look to keep their winning streak alive against conference foe's Harding and Arkansas Tech this weekend inside Percefull Fieldhouse. The Rangers will look to lean on a 5-2 home record inside Percefull Fieldhouse this season in order to take down two teams tied for third place in the conference standings.

Northwestern will take on the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech on Thursday evening. The Rangers struggled against Arkansas Tech (11-4, 7-4 in GAC) in the first match-up between the two teams in an 85-69 game. Tech has continued their stellar offensive play throughout the conference and leads the league with an average of 87.5 points a game. On the contrary, the Wonder Boys are last in the league surrendering 83.0 points a game. Center Bennie Lufile leads the team from the interior by averaging near double-double figures with 13.1 points a game and 9.7 rebounds.

Northwestern played Harding (10-5, 7-4 in GAC) in the first conference game of the season back on Nov. 17. in Searcy, Ark. and were ousted in the final seconds of the game despite hanging with the Bisons for much of the contest. The 80-76 loss featured a Ranger team that will surely look very different than they did a few months ago.

On the other side, the Bisons are still led by the trio of Will Francis, Tim Wagner and Stefan Andelkovic and continue to pose as one of the top perimeter shooting teams in the league, averaging 38% from behind the three-point line. The Bisons have also proved to be a force on the defensive side of the ball, giving up just 71.1 points a contest, good enough for second in the league.  

The team will be promoting their Coaches Versus Cancer campaign by wearing sneakers and suits during both of the weekend's games.  The Coaches vs. Cancer program empowers coaches, their teams, and communities to join the fight against cancer by participating in awareness efforts, advocacy programs, and fundraising activities. Guided by the Coaches vs. Cancer Council, participating coaches help people with cancer today and to find cures to end the disease tomorrow, and have raised more than $100 million to help the American Cancer Society's mission. Fans will have the opportunity to donate funds to the cause at the front door entrance during both games. Thunder sticks will be passed out during the games in an effort to promote awareness about the campaign and create a hostile environment inside Percefull Fieldhouse.

The action will get underway Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m., and then again on Saturday afternoon for the Hall of Fame game at 1 p.m.