The University of Regina's men's basketball team will host its final two home games of the season this weekend, as the Manitoba Bisons are in town for Friday and Saturday contests at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The importance of this weekend's matchup is vastly different for these two teams, as the Cougars can finish nowhere other than in sixth place in the Canada West standings and will travel to Saskatoon for a conference quarterfinal series against the Huskies next weekend.

In stark contrast, the Bisons are fighting for their playoff lives. Three teams are battling for the remaining two playoff positions, but Manitoba (9-13) enters the weekend with the upper hand over Calgary and Fraser Valley, who both have 8-14 records. Calgary squares off with No. 3 Saskatchewan this weekend, while Fraser Valley ends the conference schedule with a pair of home games against Brandon.

This weekend will mark the final home games for four fifth-year players on the Cougar roster, including Marek Downarowicz, Lynn Gee, Kris Heshka, and Jeff Lukomski.

Downarowicz has started 19 games for the Cougars this season and averages 10.2 points per game. He has spent the last three seasons with the U of R after transferring from Camosun College, and has career totals of 470 points and 333 rebounds while appearing in all 64 of the team's conference games.

Gee, who has started two of the U of R's last three games, is one of four Cougars to have hit at least 10 three-pointers this season. The 6'7” forward transferred from Medicine Hat College following the 2007-08 season and has spent the last three years with the Cougars, appearing in 52 games and recording 74 points and 59 rebounds in his career.

Heshka, a four-year starter for the Cougars, was a Canada West second-team all-star in 2009 and is one of just 15 players in U of R history to score at least 1000 career points. Heshka averages 10.9 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game this season and has registered 1099 points and 646 rebounds over his five seasons as a Cougar.

Lukomski recently became the U of R's all-time leading scorer and has 1465 points over his five-season career with the Cougars. He's also been Canada West's all-time leader in three-pointers since last year and enters the weekend with 300 career threes. Lukomski also has a career-high 67 assists for the U of R this season.

Manitoba has four players averaging in double figures in scoring, led by Eric Garcia's 14.2 points per game. Josh Ogden (13.3), Sean Maxwell (12.8), and Kevin Oliver (10.5) also average at least 10 points per contest.

The two teams will meet on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at the CKHS.