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The series between Lakeland and Lawrence dates all the way back to 1934, the Muskies' second year of intercollegiate basketball. The teams met regularly in those early years but played much more sporadically until recent years, as this marks the sixth meeting between the schools in seven years. Lakeland won last season's game played at home over Thanksgiving weekend, edging Lawrence 76-73 behind 19 points from Asanjai Hunter and holding on after an eight-point lead with two minutes left was whittled down to one in the final minute. The Vikings' last win in the series was an 82-68 victory in Appleton Nov. 26, 2022, with the hosts outscoring the Muskies 44-24 in the second half. Among the teams' previous meetings was one in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Division III Tournament, where Lawrence coasted to an 86-51 win in the Muskies' lone D-III tourney appearance.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Loras (Iowa) 90-79 Dec. 20
The Muskies have been idle for more than two weeks since finishing 2024 off on a strong note even in a loss to a strong opponent. Jaxson Dillon exploded for a career-high 33 points in just his second game of the season, and Lakeland hung with a Loras team that won 24 games and qualified for the Division III tournament last year. Dillon made 12 of 18 shots, including 5 of 8 from three-point range, and nearly doubled his previous career high of 17 points. The Muskies shot 48.3% and hit a season-high 15 three-pointers, including four triples from Emmitt Konieczny, though the Duhawks were even better from the floor, hitting 56.1% of their shots. The game included 20 lead changes plus six ties in the first 26 minutes before Loras took the lead for good with a 14-0 run and slowly pulled away in the final minutes.

The Muskies seemed to find their stride offensively in December after a slow start to the season, and the game against Loras was the fifth straight where Lakeland shot at least 45% and the third game in that stretch shooting 47.6% or better. The Muskies also have averaged 10 three-pointers/game in that stretch after averaging 6 triples per contest in their first six games.

Lawrence last time out: Lost to Dominican 85-65 Dec. 21
The Vikings also have been off for a full two weeks since ending 2024 on a disappointing note with a 20-point loss to Lakeland's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference rival. The Stars shot 58.3% for the game, taking over with a 14-0 midway through the first half and leading by 16 at halftime and as much as 25 in the second half. Casey Schoenecker scored 19 points and added eight rebounds, but Lawrence made just 5 of 21 from three-point range and 8 of 19 from the free throw line and dropped to 0-4 against NACC teams this season. A member of the Midwest Conference, the Vikings are 2-2 in league play so far and are looking to improve on last season's marks when they finished 5-20 overall and 3-13 in conference.