Lakeland and Aurora meet for the 55th time in an ancient series that dates all the way back to 1934-35, the Muskies' second year of basketball when the school was known as Mission House College. Aurora surged ahead in the series of late with an eight-game winning streak over Lakeland through the end of the 2017-18 season, but the Muskies ended that and won both matchups last season, by scores of 90-85 at Aurora and 80-78 at home, the latter coming just under a year ago on Feb. 6, 2019. The Spartans' last win in the series was a 94-89 overtime victory at home on Feb. 10, 2018. The teams went 42 years without playing each other before the series resumed when both became part of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in 2006. Aurora holds a 16-9 edge in games since both joined the NACC in 2006-07, and eight of the last 11 meetings between the schools have been decided by five points or less.

Lakeland last time out: Lost to Wisconsin Lutheran 113-86 Wednesday

It was a reunion between former Muskies coach Aaron Aanonsen and current Lakeland coach Sam Schroeder, who played and later coached under Aanonsen before succeeding him in 2017. A close game slipped out of hand late in the second half as the Muskies were defeated by the NACC co-leaders. WLC shot 56.5% for the game, including a scorching 68.8% in the second half, and finished the game on a blistering scoring pace with a 43-20 run over the final 12 minutes. Lakeland was led by Trenton Nickel and Jequan Pegeese with 19 points each, Tylan Huff with 16 and Greg Barber with 15, with Nickel and Barber both tying their career highs.

Aurora last time out: Defeated Marian 84-52 Wednesday

The Spartans blew away the Sabres for the home victory, building a 20-point halftime lead and never looking back. Aurora held Marian to 30.4% shooting for the game and outrebounded the guests 47-35, defeating the Sabres for the second time in nine days. Will Hrubes scored 16 points and led five Aurora players in double figures, and 12 different players scored and 15 different players pulled down at least one rebound.

About the Spartans: Aurora has struggled to find consistency this year in its first season under new coach Matt Airy, who came to the Spartans after being an assistant for eight years with a very successful NCAA Division III program at Whitman (Wash.). The Spartans won the NACC Tournament a year ago and represented the conference in the NCAA Division III Tournament, but got off to a 3-9 start overall this year. Aurora continues to lurk in contention for a spot in the six-team NACC Tournament, though, and is just one game behind Lakeland in the standings entering Saturday.

Sparkplug: From playing just seven minutes total in Lakeland's first ten games, freshman Tylan Huff has forced his way into the rotation and has become one of the top three-point threats for the Muskies and in the NACC. Huff has scored in double figures in five of the last eight games and has hit at least two three-pointers in all eight of those games. Huff is now the team's third-leading scorer at 8.9 points per game, and his 51% accuracy from three-point range ranks third in the NACC entering Saturday.