NATCHITOCHES, La. — After stumbling at home against Lamar on Saturday, Central Arkansas will take to the road for a pair of games this week looking to secure at least a share of their second Southland Conference regular season championship in three seasons. The Sugar Bears will first visit Northwestern State on Thursday before concluding the regular season at Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.

The Sugar Bears (18-9, 12-4 Southland) enter the week with a one-game lead over SFA and Lamar, which are each 11-5 in the league standings. One win will guarantee the Sugar Bears a piece of the crown, while two would give them the title outright.

Tournament seeding is also at stake, and with many tiebreaker scenarios still potentially in play, the Sugar Bears are in contention for the double bye to the semifinals awarded to the No. 1 and 2 seeds, or could at least receive a bye into the quarterfinals reserved for the 3 and 4 seeds. Nicholls and McNeese, which have also punched their tickets to Katy for the Southland tournament, are two games back at 10-6.