ALVA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State men's basketball team will hit the road looking to complete the season sweep of both opponents for the weekend.

The Rangers previously defeated both Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas in the team's previous meeting back on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. The Rangers remain in a tie for second place in the Great American Conference with Southeastern Oklahoma State at 10-5.

Northwestern picked up two huge wins at home during this past weekend with wins over Arkansas Tech and Harding to bounce back from consecutive losses the weekend prior at Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist. The Rangers limited the league's top scoring team to just 67 points in their 86-67 victory on Thursday night over Arkansas Tech, and then followed up that victory with a 82-73 defeat of Harding on Saturday afternoon.

The Rangers cleaned things up on the defensive side of the ball during the weekend's victories and currently sit second in the league in scoring defense, giving up 71.7 points per game. Northwestern continues to shoot the ball well from behind the three-point line and remains as the highest three-point shooting percentage team in the league at 40.8 percent.

Senior Greg Minor Jr. and junior Treyvon Andres both scored more than 10 points in both games over the weekend and continue to lead the Rangers as two evolving scoring options down the stretch in the second half of the season. Minor and Andres are now two of four Rangers that are averaging double-digits in scoring along with Cody Halvorson and A'keem Oglesby, showing that the scoring options run deep for head coach Shawn Dirden.

The Rangers will have to have all scoring options ready to go as they will face off with Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night in what promises to be another tough battle. The Boll Weevils will once again feature one of the league's most dynamic scoring options in senior Derylton Hill, who currently ranks fifth in the league in scoring (18.3 ppg) and second in the league in rebounding (7.2).

Hill will once again have his three running mates in the backcourt in Karim Mawuenyega, Cobe Goosby, and Tyrin Jones that all rank in the top 15 in the league in scoring available to join him in the offensive attack. The defending conference champions have struggled to replace the depth that they lost a year ago, but are right in the heart of the conference standings at 8-7.

Northwestern will then take on a Southern Arkansas team on Saturday afternoon that has presented themselves as one of the league's biggest question marks all season. After rattling off seven straight wins over the course of 19 days throughout the month of January, the Muleriders have since dropped three consecutive contests and were limited to less than 70 points in two of those three outings.

Southern Arkansas ranks in the top five in the conference in seven major statistical categories, but has struggled all season with remaining consistent throughout ball games. The Muleriders will be led by freshman DeVante Brooks, who leads the league in rebounding with an average of 7.3 per game, and junior CJ Elkins, who averages 13.5 points per contest.

Games on the road in Monticello and Magnolia, Arkansas are set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.