ALVA, Okla.- Northwestern Oklahoma State's men's basketball team will hit the road towards Arkadelphia, Ark. this weekend looking to use what they have learned about themselves as a team over the break to pick-up some crucial conference road wins.

The Rangers (4-5, 0-4)  will look to pick-up those road wins against Ouachita Baptist on Thursday evening and then Henderson State on Saturday afternoon. Despite getting off to a slow start in conference play, Head Coach Shawn Dirden and his team know there is plenty of basketball left and every game from here on out means something.

"The one thing we're trying to make a point of is there are no more non-league games or tune-ups." Coach Dirden said. "I'm taking the approach with the team that we have 18 games left, almost like we're 0-0, how are we going to finish?"

The Rangers will look to finish out this season on a strong run, building off of two non-conference victories over the winter break. The Rangers took down Newman University by a score of 72-64 on Dec. 10, and then most recently travelled to Oklahoma City and picked up an 82-72 victory over Randall University.

The evolving consistency of point guard Brandon Green has resulted in a smoother flow throughout the offense this season. Green currently sits second in the conference averaging 5.9 assists per game and coach Dirden expressed his confidence in his point guard's developing consistency.

"He's such a diverse player and I think he's one of the best point guards in the league." Coach Dirden said. "I think there's another step that he's capable of reaching."

Green is a member of the scoring trio averaging nine points a game to back-up scoring leader Adrian Motley, who currently averages 18.1 points a game. The other two members of that trio include guards Cody Halvorson and Zachary Dumas. All three of those scoring threats, as well as Motley, will be needed this weekend to take on two teams that remind coach Dirden a lot of his own team.

"They come down and they run plays." Coach Dirden said when referring to Ouachita Baptist (4-4, 2-2 GAC). "It's not just hey let's just pressure and gamble and play wild, they actually play really good team ball, so it's been fun watching them and saying we're kind of playing ourselves."

The Tigers are led by senior guard Lakee Westbrook, last year's GAC Newcomer of the Year, who is currently averaging 17.3 points a game and has only not reached double-digit scoring once this season. Westbrook is joined at the guard position by another returner for the Tigers that earned post-season accolades last season. Senior Justin McCleary, who coach Dirden views as a top-three shooter in the league, returns after making the Second Team All-GAC last year and currently averages 13.6 points a game.

Henderson State (8-2, 3-1 GAC) will use an athletic, high-octane offense to attempt to defend their home court against the Rangers on Saturday afternoon. That offense for the Reddies currently ranks at the top of the GAC in scoring offense at 88.1 points a game. Henderson has been cruising as of late, as the Reddies have scored over 100 points in three of their last four games. Forward Chris Hawkins, a transfer from Division I Memphis University, has scored 20-plus points in four of the last five games.

The road action will get underway on Thursday evening against Ouachita Baptist at 7:30 p.m. The Rangers will then travel essentially across the street to Henderson State on Saturday, with play in that contest scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.

Thursday vs OUACHITA BAPTIST: Click here for Live Stats and Click here for Live Video
 
Saturday vs HENDERSON STATE: Click here for Live Stats and Click here for Live Video
 
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