ST. PAUL – Saturday evening's Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament championship game between Northwestern College (Minn.) and Bethany Lutheran College won't offer a ton of surprises to either team. That doesn't mean that there isn't a lot weighing on this contest, because there is. Each team presents a solid core of seniors, with only one of those groups moving on to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which starts next Saturday, March 2. For the seniors on both teams, there isn't a next year. It's now or never.

The Eagles and Vikings know each other well. In addition to head coaches Tim Grosz and David Balza putting a pretty regular starting five on the court for the last two years, these teams have played one another five times in that time span, with Saturday's big ticket game being the sixth. Last year, in the 2011-2012 campaign, Bethany won both regular season battles in Balza's first year as the Vikings' head coach. Northwestern, who had earned the UMAC's first-ever automatic qualifier into the NCAA dance the year before, returned from the 2012 conference  tournament title game a champion, turning an 18-3 deficit into a 60-44 victory against Bethany Lutheran to head to the Division III Tournament for the second consecutive season.

This season has been slightly different, but the top picks in the UMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll are still matched up against one another with just two teams left. Bethany Lutheran, the preseason favorite, dealt NWC its first conference loss in the Ericksen Center on January 12, coming back from a 15-point hole to win by three. The Eagles returned the favor on February 8th, leaving the Vikings' Sports and Fitness Center with an 89-86 victory to even the season score. And so here we are again with Bethany Lutheran and Northwestern paired up with the only change being a difference in venue as the Vikings' Red Sea will now be a more purple-clad fan base in the Twin Cities.

NWC is led by its four seniors – Wade Chitwood (Grinnell, Iowa/Grinnell), Tom Gisler (Stewartville, Minn./Stewartville), Lance Westberg (River Falls, Wis./River Falls) and Ellis Libby (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson), each of whom play major roles. Chitwood is the sharp-shooting jump shooter who leads the team with 17.2 points per game. Gisler is the two-time reigning Division III three-point champion who once again is among the nation's leaders with a 49.6 shooting percentage from behind the three-point line. Westberg, who caught the Vikings off guard in last year's tournament game, has come on as of late, scoring 16 or more points in the Eagles' last three games with a combined 7-13 performance from downtown. Not to be lost in the shuffle is Libby, Northwestern's top perimeter defender whose 5.5 assists per game rank 21st in the NCAA. Any one of these men can have a big game on any given night. In a recent interview with D3hoops.com's Jason Galleske, Grosz said “We really make sure we find the open man and make the extra pass. If (Chitwood) has an off night, we know we have other people capable of stepping up.”

Bethany's seniors have the same passion – and potential. Alex Weldon scored 24 points in a December 10 game that saw the Vikings leading then-No. 5 ranked St. Thomas by five points with nine seconds left in regulation before losing 94-91 in overtime to the now top-ranked Tommies. Weldon is one of three BLC players that eclipsed the 1,000 point plateau for his career in the last few weeks, joining fellow seniors Gavin Kroehler and Derek Peterson. Kroehler, the 6-5 big man who led his team with 14 points in a foul-striken 26 minutes in the 2012 tournament championship, is Bethany Lutheran's top scorer with 13.3 points per game. Then there's Peterson, the quick guard who is right behind Kroehler with 12.6 points per game and has a team-leading 83 assists this season. Not that Saturday's game is any less important for the Eagles, but for the Vikings, it's extra personal. After Bethany's 83-67 victory over North Central (Minn.) in Wednesday's UMAC semifinal, Kroehler told the Mankato Free Press's Danny Weller, “It feels great to get back to the championship game because we've got some unfinished business left.”

Both sides know it will be a tight contest. “It's rare that this game would be a blowout,” said Gisler. “I'm pretty sure it's going to be a close one down to the wire again. We're looking forward to it.”

Tickets for Saturday's 7 p.m. tipoff are $3 for students and $5 for adults. All students, faculty and staff members from any of the eight UMAC schools will receive free admission with their school's ID card. If you can't make it to the game, nwceagles.com will offer both streaming video and live statistics.