It took only a two-game road trip to rearrange the Sacramento State men’s basketball team’s standing from fourth place to tied for sixth in the Big Sky Conference.

And it can take only a two-game home stand on Thursday and Saturday to once again reshuffle the standings — where 1.5 games separates second and eighth place. The top six teams make the postseason.

To work their way back into playoff contention after a 69-65 loss to Portland State on Saturday and a 83-57 loss to Eastern Washington on Thursday, the Hornets — who are 3- 2 at home against conference teams — will face Weber State (11-12, 4-6) and Idaho State (10-15, 5-5).

“I think there are seven other teams that have the same worry we do,” head coach Jerome Jenkins said. “It is about who can do better in the last four games. Things can change very quickly. I’d rather be in the race than not.”

The Hornets, who for the first time in Division I history made it to the postseason last year, will contend with two of the top five scorers in the Big Sky this weekend.

The Wildcats’ Slobodan Ocokoljic, who is averaging 15.0 points per game and 7.0 rebounds, will be at the Hornets Nest on Thursday night.

Sac State has been tinkering with its starting lineup inserting freshman Alex Bausley into the power forward position to partner with senior Cedric Thompkins. Despite Thompkins and Jameel Pugh averaging 6.9 and 4.5 rebounds per game respectively, the Hornets were outrebounded 87-65 in their two losses this weekend. “Rebounding is a key point,” Pugh said. “We have to put an emphasis on it and step up. We have to go after the ball with a relentless pursuit. I think that it is huge, especially getting offensive rebounds and possession of the ball.”

Against Weber State, rebounding will be a focus. The Wildcats feature the 6-foot-8 Ocokoljic and 6-foot-11 Lance Allred in their frontcourt, so Jenkins would like to force an up-tempo game -forcing turnovers and steals while opening up passing lanes – that may prove difficult for the Wildcats to keep up with when positioned against a smaller Hornet lineup.

Jenkins will also insert DaShawn Freeman back into the starting lineup at the point guard position, replacing E.J. Harris.

Idaho State’s Marquis Poole, who will face Sac State on Saturday, is currently second in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.9 points per game along with 6.5 assists and 2.14 steals.

The Hornets are still in contention to host a postseason game in the first round of the Big Sky tournament if they place third or fourth, if not, Saturday will be seniors Tony Champion, Joel Jones, Brandon Guyton, Djibril Diop, Joseth Dawson and Thompkins last game at the Hornets Nest. Before the game on Saturday the seniors will be honored. With two games this weekend, Sac State will finish up the season on the road at Montana and Montana State on Feb. 25 and Feb. 29.

“It is killed or be killed,” Pugh said. “It is important to the seniors to go out and leave a mark on this program…we don’t want to take a step backward. We have no choice, our backs are against the wall.”

The Hornets, who were in fourth place after a 110-97 win over Northern Arizona on Feb. 7., lost two critical games over the weekend.

On Saturday, Sac State allowed Portland State’s Blake Walker to unload for 21 points and 10 rebounds in a 69-65 loss. While both teams shot under 40 percent, the Vikings were able to pull down 19 offensive rebounds for second chance attempts. Three other Vikings finished in double figures, including forward Antone Jarrell who finished with 15 points and 6-foot-7 Seamus Boxley who brought down 11 rebounds while adding 13 points.

“Once we start in a hole it’s hard to find our way out of it,” Pugh said. “That’s been a real big problem because it is hard to get and maintain a momentum change on the road.”

Dawson led all scorers with 22 points and he is averaging 22.0 points in his last three games. The senior guard is eighth in the Big Sky in scoring and is averaging 14.9 points per game in conference despite shooting only 37.0 percent from the field. He is the third-most fouled player in the Big Sky and has the second-highest free throw percentage, converting 113 of his 131 free throw attempts.

Eastern Washington (14-10, 10-1), who clinched the Big Sky regular season championship with a win over NAU on Saturday, first rid themselves of Sac State on Thursday 83-57.

The Eagles had five players finish in double figures. The Hornets shot 21.4 percent from the field and missed nine of their first ten field goals in the second half. Eastern had a 38-35 lead at halftime and went on a 25-9 run as the second period began.

The Hornets were led by Dawson and Pugh, who finished with 14 points each.

Sac State committed 20 turnovers and dished out only nine assists, but is leading the conference with 8.52 steals per game.

The Eagles were led by guard Alvin Snow’s 18 points and Brendon Merritt who, on top of his 15 points, finished with eight assists and five steals.