The Muskies have largely had good success against the Stars of late, winning 19 of the teams' last 22 meetings. Lakeland has won three straight in the series, but all were close, including a 70-69 victory on Jan. 3 when Max Justic hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. The Muskies also won the last meeting at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium almost a year ago, posting an 88-78 win Feb. 8, 2025 behind 24 points and 10 rebounds from Asanjai Hunter. Dominican's last win over Lakeland was a 104-100 victory exactly two years ago at the Woltzen Gym, as the Stars scored the final five points in overtime to win after Cam Jaeger hit a three-pointer with four seconds left to send the game to an extra session. The series dates back to Nov. 23, 1983, when Dominican defeated Lakeland 91-87 in overtime at home.

Lakeland last time out: Lost to MSOE 100-75 Wednesday
The Muskies cut a 16-point deficit down to four points in the second half, but the Raiders outscored Lakeland 42-21 the rest of the way, including 22-7 over the final seven minutes to break open a game that was competitive much of the way. The Muskies made 12 of 40 three-point attempts, but went cold late making just one of their final 14 from long distance. Jaxson Dillon and Peyton Mrotek both scored 21 points and Max Justic added a season-high 17 points.

Dominican last time out: Lost at Illinois Tech 74-64 Wednesday
The Stars once again lost in close fashion, falling to the Scarlet Hawks on the road in Chicago. Dominican trailed by two points with less than three minutes left in the game  but IIT converted three consecutive three-point plays, then closed the game out making 7 of 8 at the foul line. Frank Paszkowski led Dominican with 18 points, including four three-pointers, and Braydon Murphy added 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Stars scored 17 points in the first half but 47 in the second half, but lost their 14th straight game since earning their lone victory on the season over NACC rival Benedictine on Dec. 6. Dominican has been close in many of its games this year, losing six games by five points or less and 10 games in all by 10 points or less.

Recapping the first meeting: The Muskies stole one out from under the Stars in their first meeting just over a month ago, coming back from down five points with less than 30 seconds left in the game. Lakeland trailed by as many as 11 points late in the first half, by eight at halftime, and never led in the second half until Justic's three-pointer from the right wing swished through as time expired. Hunter scored 20 points, Justic added 16 points and Parker Braun grabbed 12 rebounds. Elijah Daugherty scored 25 points off the bench to lead Dominican.