All quarterfinal games will tip-off this Thursday, February 16 at 7:00 p.m. The No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 seeds will host their respective games, and the remaining higher seed will host each game throughout the tournament.

Lake Michigan Conference regular season champion Lakeland College (20-5, 13-1 LMC) is the No. 1 seed and will host eight-seeded Maranatha Baptist Bible College (1-22, 0-14) on the Lakeland campus. The Muskies, currently ranked No. 6 in the most recent NCAA Division III Midwest Regional ranking, defeated the Crusaders handily in both regular season meetings winning 88-46 on November 22 at Lakeland, and 85-56 last week in Watertown. The Muskies will have home court advantage throughout the tournament.

The Lakeland/Maranatha winner will face the winner of No. 4 Edgewood College (13-11, 8-6) and No. 5 Dominican University (13-12, 6-8). The host Eagles swept the Stars in both encounters this season. Edgewood won 80-72 on January 14 at Dominican, and then edged out the Stars, 73-70, on January 24 in Madison. Edgewood was the conference's automatic qualifier in last year's NCAA Division III tournament, and dropped a 91-74 decision to Buena Vista University in the first round.

In the other half of the bracket, No. 2 seed Milwaukee School of Engineering (17-8, 10-4) hosts Marian College (9-16, 5-9), the No. 7 seed. These two teams split their two meetings this season, each winning on the road. MSOE won the January 10 meeting in Fond du Lac, 71-65, while the Sabres won 70-67 in Milwaukee just over a week ago. The Raiders have dropped three of their last four games, while Marian has done the opposite, winning three of their last four and four of their last six.

The MSOE/Marian winner will take on the winner of three-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran College (11-14, 8-6) and six-seeded Concordia University (8-15, 6-8). The Warriors will host the Falcons, who they beat in both encounters this season. Lutheran, who is currently riding a four-game winning streak, won a 95-94 overtime decision in mid December, as well as last Tuesday's 90-82 meeting at Concordia.

The semifinal games will take place Saturday, February 18 at 2:00 p.m. at the higher seed, and the tournament championship is scheduled for the following Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m. The Lake Michigan Conference tournament champion will receive the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament, which begins March 2.

Interesting LMC Tournament Facts

• The LMC has sent five different teams to the NCAA tournament in the six years it has had an automatic bid.
• Seeds 1-6 have all won the LMC tournament.
• The No. 7 and 8 seeds have never advanced past the semifinals of the LMC tournament.
• Before obtaining the NCAA automatic bid in 2000, the No. 1 seed had won eight of eleven tournaments and the No. 2 won the other three. Since 2000, the No. 1 seed has only won the LMC tournament once (Edgewood, 2005) and participated in the tournament championship twice (Lakeland, 2003 and Edgewood, 2005), while the No. 2 seed is 0-2 in championship games (Lakeland, 2001 and Concordia, 2005).
• The LMC's NCAA qualifier has entered the NCAA tournament with a losing record twice (Concordia, 2000 and MSOE, 2003).

LMC Tournament Championship Results
2005 No. 1 Edgewood 79, No. 2 Concordia 71
2004 No. 3 Lakeland 60, No. 5 Wisconsin Lutheran 54
2003 No. 6 MSOE 91, No. 1 Lakeland 87
2002 No. 3 Edgewood 69, No. 4 Concordia 63
2001 No. 4 Marian 67, No. 2 Lakeland 60
2000 No. 5 Concordia 66, No. 3 Edgewood 65
1999 No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran 80, No. 2 Concordia 74 (overtime)
1998 No. 1 Wisconsin Lutheran 82, No. 2 Edgewood 81
1997 No. 2 Edgewood 78, No. 4 Cardinal Stritch 76
1996 No. 1 Lakeland 80, No. 2 Edgewood 73
1995 No. 1 Edgewood 90, No. 2 Lakeland 88 (overtime)
1994 No. 1 Lakeland 69, No. 2 Cardinal Stritch 65
1993 No. 2 Concordia 66, No. 4 Cardinal Stritch 61
1992 No. 1 Edgewood 76, No. 2 Marian 74 (overtime)
1991 No. 1 Marian 69, No. 3 Concordia 65
1990 No. 1 Marian 89, No. 3 Concordia 72
1989 No. 2 Marian 71, No. 4 Northwestern 63

--February 12, 2006--