Alva Review-Courier -

ALVA, Okla. – Over 20 years of basketball, whether it be competing at the collegiate or professional level, or coaching at nearly every level collegiate basketball has to offer, has prepared Northwestern Oklahoma State's men's basketball head coach Shawn Dirden for the stretch of four games he is about to take on in his first year as a Rangers head coach.

That stretch of four games will get started this weekend in what will be near must-win situations throughout the rest of the way for the Rangers. Northwestern currently sits two games back of three separate teams for a tie for eighth place in the conference standings. The top eight teams qualify for the Great American Conference post-season tournament, so with just four games left in the season mathematically speaking the Rangers will have to go at least 3-and-1 throughout those games. However, in what has been a crazy season throughout the league, coach Dirden knows anything can happen and his team has only one thought on their minds right now: “Win every single game.”

“You almost can throw records out the window just about every night,” coach Dirden said, “It's just about each team's individual players showing up prepared and ready to compete that night. Anybody can win home or away so it's all about having a good prep week and then going out and executing.”

The final stretch of games will get started this weekend as the Rangers welcome the East Central Tigers to Percefull Fieldhouse on Thursday night before hitting the road Saturday afternoon for the final road game of the season at Oklahoma Baptist. With three of the final four games at home here in Alva, coach Dirden expects his team to take some extra pride in knowing that they can clinch a play-off spot here in front of peers and loyal fans.

“We're excited about being at home while making the push down the stretch,” said coach DIrden, “You still have to make plays to win, but the guys are excited to perform in front of their friends and peers.”

Of all the members of the Rangers team, this play-off push may mean the most to senior Adrian Motley, who has spent the last five seasons in the black-and-red. Motley has excelled this season, entrenching his legacy inside the Ranger record books, rising the career points list all the way up to sixth place with 1,389 points. Adrian will have to average 24.7 points throughout these next four games in order to crack the top five on the list, barring the Rangers don't qualify for post-season play. Coach Dirden says that he has leaned on Motley a lot throughout his first season as a Ranger coach, and that he anticipates their relationship will continue after Adrian hangs up the sneakers as a Ranger.

“I think he's helped me settle in as a coach and I'm hoping I've had an impact on him as player in the short time I've been with him,” said coach Dirden. “As someone who wants to be a professional I hope I've paved the way for him as far as showing him the work ethic and preparation it takes to make it. He's been building his resume his entire career with his schools records and numbers as well as how the other coaches in the conference view him.”

Motley will have to be on top of his game this weekend to lead the Rangers into their second consecutive berth in the post-season tournament. In the first meeting with East Central back on Jan. 21, Motley totaled 16 points and 13 rebounds in the Ranger's 83-71 upset win over the Tigers, who have since rebounded and are looking for their second straight regular-season conference title. The Tigers (18-6, 14-4 in GAC) sit one game out of first place and are currently riding a four-game win streak. Northwestern held conference leading scorer Braxton Reeves to his third-lowest total of the season with 12 points. Since then, Reeves has caught fire and raised his scoring total a full point to 22.6 in the last month. The Tigers rank third in the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense, and shoot the second best percentage from the field at 47.5 percent. Coach Dirden maintains that the game plan that worked so well the last time out against the Tigers will be very similar, but knows that with arguably the league's best scorer and a veteran set of role players, East Central will roll into Alva ready to stake their claim as the league's top dog.

Northwestern will then make the trip to Shawnee to take on the Bison of Oklahoma Baptist, who haven't been able to recover from some key early injuries to at least four different players that would normally see major playing time. Oklahoma Baptist (5-17, 2-16 in GAC) has struggled mightily since opening up their season with a huge win over Arkansas Tech and then a near win at Harding in the same weekend, and will look to salvage their season with a quality win over the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

With play-off hopes in mind and two quality opponents this weekend, coach Dirden will have to rely on his many years of basketball experience to rally his troops into the play-offs. Thursday evening's showdown with East Central is set for a 7:30 tip-off inside what will for sure be a rocking Percefull Fieldhouse. Northwestern will then head south for a 3 p.m. match-up against Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday.