SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - The Lake Superior State University men's basketball team (5-8, 4-1 GLIAC) is set to host a pair of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchups in Bud Cooper Gymnasium over the weekend when they take on the Rangers of Wisconsin-Parkside on Thursday and the Purdue Northwest Pride on Saturday.

The Lakers are coming off of a 78-72 victory at Ferris State to open up the new year and hand them their first loss on their home court this season, and Caden Ebeling (Shelby Twp., Mich.) had a very strong outing with a season-high 27-point performance. 

The Rangers currently boast an 11-4 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play, including recently suffering their first loss in GLIAC play against Davenport on Jan. 7, and they will face the Lakers in a battle of top-three teams in the conference standings in the Soo on Thursday. Parkside is led offensively by the second-leading scorer in the conference in Rasheed Bello who is making over 50 percent of his three-point attempts. The Rangers also make life difficult on the defensive end of the floor, holding opponents to a league-best 65.9 points per game. 

The Pride currently stand at 9-7 overall with a 2-4 mark in conference play, and they will travel to take on the Ferris State prior to their Saturday afternoon matchup against the Lakers. Purdue Northwest will look to apply pressure with one of the top scoring duos in the GLIAC in Alou Dillon (16.1 ppg) and Mikell Cooper (15.3 ppg).