2008 Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals, Tue., Feb. 26, 7pm #8 Benedictine @ #1 Aurora #7 Edgewood @ #2 Marian #6 Lakeland @ #3 WLC #5 MSOE @ #4 Dominican Semifinals, Thu., Feb 28, 7pm Final, Sat., Mar. 1, 2pm

Northern Athletics Conference men's basketball tournament preview
VERONA, Wis. -- The 2008 Northern Athletics Conference Men's Basketball Tournament kicks off this Tuesday with quarterfinal action. The conference tournament features the top eight teams from the NAC, expanded from only six teams last year.

#8 Benedictine University at #1 Aurora University
The Spartans (20-5, 16-2 NAC) host the Benedictine Eagles (11-14, 10-8) in the #1 vs. #8 matchup. Benedictine lost their first round game in last season's tournament as the #6 seed. Aurora, the regular season conference champion the last two seasons, looks to repeat as tournament champions.

The Spartans won both games this season versus Benedictine. Back on December 8, Aurora won 85-81 at home. In the rematch at Benedictine on January 30, Aurora came out victorious again, 82-80, but took an overtime period to do so. Benedictine has won five of six games since the January 30 loss, while Aurora has won their last four.

#7 Edgewood College at #2 Marian College
The Eagles of Edgewood College (13-12, 10-8 NAC) will travel to Fond du Lac and take on the host Sabres (16-9, 12-6). Edgewood took second in the inaugural tournament in 2007, while Marian makes their first appearance in the short existence of the tournament.

Marian swept the season series, winning at home, 76-73, and at Edgewood, 89-75. The pair of games both took place in the last two weeks. Both teams have struggled recently, with Marian dropping three of their last four games, and Edgewood losing four of their last five.

#6 Lakeland College at #3 Wisconsin Lutheran College
Lakeland (14-11, 10-8 NAC) and Wisconsin Lutheran (18-7, 12-6) faceoff in a rematch of last year's first round tilt, where the Muskies edged the host Warriors, 51-50.

In this year's regular season matchup on January 19, Wisconsin Lutheran won at Lakeland, 103-94. The Muskies have gone 4-5 since the loss, yet two of the losses have come in overtime. WLC has gone 8-3 since the victory.

#5 MSOE at #4 Dominican University
The Stars (14-11, 11-7 NAC) will host the Raiders (16-9, 11-7) again, in a rematch from this past Saturday. Dominican came out victorious, 70-57.

Dominican made the semifinals in 2007 as the #3 seed, while MSOE is a new member to the Northern Athletics Conference this season. MSOE had won nine games in a row before dropping their last two, while Dominican is on a four-game win streak including seven of their last eight.

All quarterfinal games will tip-off at 7:00 p.m.

The tournament uses a standard bracket format with #1/8 taking on #4/5, and #2/7 playing #3/6 in the semifinals. The semifinals are scheduled for this Thursday, February 28 at 7:00 p.m.

The tournament final will take place on Saturday, March 1 at 2:00 p.m. The higher seed of each game will host each matchup for all rounds of the tournament. Each host institution can be contacted for ticketing information.

Northern Athletics Conference, Sports Information Department, February 24, 2008.