Lakeland and Benedictine have been meeting since 1949, when the schools were known as Mission House and St. Procopius colleges, respectively. The teams split two meetings last season, with the Muskies winning 97-85 at home Dec. 28, 2023 before the Eagles rallied for a 60-54 win on their homecourt Jan. 27, 2024. Lakeland had a brief two-game winning streak in the series, winning a pair of games in 2023 including a 99-88 victory at home in February of last year. Before that, Benedictine had won five straight in the series. The first meeting ever between the schools came over 70 years ago on March 2, 1949, when Mission House defeated St. Procopius 56-48 in Lisle, Ill.

Lakeland last time out: Won at Dominican 96-93 (OT) last Saturday
The Muskies earned their first win of the season, edging the Stars on the road in River Forest, Ill., in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game. Cliff McCray was fouled on a three-point attempt with 54 seconds left in regulation and made all three foul shots to tie the game, and Lakeland scored the first 11 points and never trailed in the extra session. McCray joined Isaiah Hammond and Gage Cornell as all posting career highs scoring, including Hammond finishing with 29 points, McCray scoring 27 and Cornell adding 17 points. McCray (15 free throws) and Cornell (11) combined to make 26 of Lakeland's 36 fee throws, and Hammond added a team-high nine rebounds. The loss snapped a 12-game losing streak for Lakeland that dated back to last season.

Benedictine last time out: Defeated Dominican 88-66 Wednesday
The Eagles also faced the Stars in their most recent game, taking a break from their own final exams to pick up their first NACC win. Benedictine never trailed in the game and used a big first half to take control, building a 41-23 halftime lead. The Eagles led by as many as 28 points in the second half but Dominican drew within 72-59 with four minutes left before Benedictine closed it out. Tanner Resch scored 22 points, Ryan Sammons tallied 21 and Patrick Mayfield added 18 points as the Eagles snapped a six-game losing streak of their own.

Benedictine opened the season with a one-point win over Wheaton (Ill.) but then went nearly a month without a win, including losing four straight by 10 points or less or in overtime. The Eagles finished 16-11 overall last year and placed third at 12-6 in the NACC before falling to St. Norbert in double-overtime in the NACC tourney semifinals.