The Viking women's basketball team secured its tournament berth with a win over Ripon College last Saturday.
After Wednesday night's 64-52 victory at St. Norbert College (9-12), the Lawrence (11-10) men moved into a fourth-place tie with the Green Knights in the conference at 8-7. The top four teams earn a spot in the conference tournament, and Lake Forest (16-5, 15-0) and Ripon (16-5, 10-5) have clinched tournament berths. Third-place Knox College (14-7, 9-6) would clinch a spot in the tournament with a victory Saturday at Monmouth College.
Lawrence has won three consecutive games but needs to win its final game, at home Saturday at 5 p.m. against Beloit College (7-14, 5-10), to earn a place in the tournament. By virtue of its two wins this season over St. Norbert, the Vikings hold the tiebreaker should the two teams remain tied after Saturday's games. In the event of a three-way tie between Knox, Lawrence, and St. Norbert, the Green Knights would be the odd man out.
The Vikings have added motivation Saturday against Beloit after losing to the Buccaneers 78-72 at Beloit on January 8. Lawrence led 41-37 at the half, but the Vikings shot just 25 percent from the floor in the second half, as Beloit rallied for the victory. Four Bucs scored in double figures, led by Jason Jones' 20 points, in the win.
The Lawrence women dropped a 55-47 decision to St. Norbert on Wednesday and are tied with Carroll College for third place in the conference at 10-5. Lawrence (11-10 overall) holds the tiebreaker with Carroll (12-9 overall) because of its two wins over the Pioneers this season.
The victory by the Green Knights (16-5, 14-1) assured them of hosting the league tournament Feb. 25-26, and Lake Forest's win over Ripon made the Foresters (18-3, 13-2) the No. 2 seed. The opponents for the top two teams are yet to be determined. If Lawrence beats Beloit Saturday afternoon in a 3 p.m. game, the Vikings would be the No. 3 seed and face Lake Forest at 5 p.m. on Feb. 25. If the Vikings lose and Carroll wins at Ripon Saturday, the Pioneers would move to the third seed and Lawrence would face St. Norbert at 7 p.m. on Feb. 25. Should both Lawrence and Carroll lose on Saturday, the Vikings would be the No. 3 seed.
The winners meet in a 2 p.m. championship game on Feb. 26.