2007 Northern Athletics Conference Men's Basketball Tournament parings set

Northern Athletics Conference, Sports Information Department

VERONA, Wis. -- The 2007 Northern Athletics Conference Men's Basketball Tournament pairings have been set. The top six teams have been determined and earned spots in the conference tournament.

The Spartans of Aurora University clinched the conference title outright today by defeating Rockford College. The Spartans (23-2, 16-2 NAC) are the top seed in the conference tournament, and will receive a first round bye into the tournament semifinals.

Edgewood College received the other first round bye and is the #2 seed in the tournament. The Eagles (16-7, 14-3) still have a conference game to play on Monday at Rockford which will officially close out the regular season. The game was postponed last Tuesday due to weather conditions that caused Rockford to close their campus for the day.

Dominican University, which tied Wisconsin Lutheran College and Lakeland College for third place in the standings, claimed the #3 seed by virtue of a tie-breaker. The Stars (16-9, 12-6) had the best record among the three teams with a .667 winning percentage (2-1 record). Wisconsin Lutheran (15-10, 12-6) is the #4 seed with a 2-2 record (.500) and Lakeland is the #5 seed with a .333 winning percentage (1-2) among the third place teams.

Dominican will host #6 Benedictine University (12-13, 10-8) in a first round game on Tuesday at 7:00pm. Dominican fell to the Eagles, 63-46, at Benedictine on January 18. The winner will travel to Madison to play at Edgewood on Friday in a tournament semifinal.

Wisconsin Lutheran will host Lakeland in the other first round game on Tuesday in Milwaukee. The teams spilt this season, each defending their home court. The winner will head to play at top-seeded Aurora on Friday.

The Northern Athletics Conference men's basketball tournament final is scheduled for a 7:00pm tip-off on Saturday, February 24. The highest remaining seed will host the title game.