ALVA, Okla.- With their backs against the wall in two must-win situations this weekend, Ranger men's basketball head coach Shawn Dirden expressed that his team will not be playing solely for the hope of their second consecutive berth in the Great American Conference tournament.

His Ranger team will be playing to bring their home record up to .500 in front of the loyal Ranger crowd that has supported them all season long, something that Dirden says he and his team have been honored by all season. The Rangers will also be honoring four seniors in their final games as Rangers during the final weekend series of the regular season.

Amongst all of the season-finale ceremonies that will take place inside Percefull Fieldhouse this weekend, the Rangers must win both games against Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist to have a chance to jump into the final seed of the GAC post-season tournament. The Rangers must then have some help from bitter rival Southwestern Oklahoma State to defeat Henderson State on Saturday afternoon in order for the Rangers to officially claim the final spot. Henderson State defeated Southwestern back on Jan. 1 by a final of 87-61, proving that the Bulldogs will have to have a stellar afternoon if the Rangers have any hope of making the tournament.

Despite the pressures of two must-win games as well as playing in front of what should be a packed house on both Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon, coach Dirden says that his team will trust their preparation this week to propel them to where they need to be this weekend against two quality opponents.

"We're not out of it, you're always playing for not only yourself but also for your school and pride," coach Dirden said, "Really good players and established programs get that so we put a lot into all three practices this week so that showed us that we still have the fight and attitude to finish strong."

That final fight will take place against two quality, yet vastly different basketball teams beginning with Henderson State on Thursday night. The Reddies (14-12, 9-11 in GAC) will enter the contest after dropping five of their last six contests, leading to them falling all the way down the latter in the GAC standings. Despite their recent struggles, the Reddies still lead the league in turnover margin (+3.73) as well as steals per game (7.7), a testament to their team's reputation for being extremely athletic and playing a fast tempo game every time they come out.

"Henderson is very up-tempo, very athletic, very fast along with solid shooting," coach Dirden said, "But the biggest thing they bring is that they play above the rim from player one-through-five."

The Rangers will then shift from the super-athletic Reddies to the slightly undersized Ouachita Baptist Tigers, a team that has relied on leadership and experience all season long to move them into sixth place in the GAC standings. The Tigers (12-12, 10-10 in GAC) are headlined by the senior trio of Lakee Westbrook, Carven Holcolmbe, and Justin McCleary. All three players rank in the top 30 in the conference in scoring and will be ready to use their experience they've garnered after four years of collegiate basketball to begin to make their run towards the GAC post-season tournament title.

Thursday night's showdown with Henderson will get underway Thursday evening at 7:30 inside what will be an electric Percefull Fieldhouse. The Rangers will then honor four seniors in their final games wearing the black-and-red on Saturday afternoon prior to tip-off. Adrian Motley, Deiondray Martin, Austin Klug, and Anthony Bolton will all be honored for their services to the Ranger faithful just before the tip-off that is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.