LINCOLN, NEB. — The story is starting to sound familiar.

The No. 5-seeded Central College men's basketball team advanced to the Iowa Conference tournament championship after defeating No. 1-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan, the league co-champion, 85-63 Thursday night.

Central (16-11) won last year's conference tournament title after being the No. 5 seed and winning three straight games on the road for the first time in tourney history to advance to the NCAA Division III tournament. Thursday's win means the Dutch will host No. 6-seeded Wartburg College (18-9) Saturday at P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. tip, with the winner receiving the league's automatic NCAA tourney berth. The 62-team field will be announced Monday.  Wartburg pulled a big surprise of its own, going on the road and knocking off co-champion Loras College, 92-89 Tuesday. That sends the six-team tourney's two bottom seeds into the title game for the first time in tourney history.

"Our confidence is driving us right now," said coach Craig Douma. "Our guys are feeding off each other and bring a ton of energy. The guys have been through this before and know what it takes to win during this time of the year."

Senior guard Pete Walker (Red Oak) led Central with 23 points and six rebounds, junior forward Kyle Smith (Ionia, New Hampton HS) added 21 points including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and senior forward Colby Taylor (Creston) had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

"Pete really stepped up tonight," said Douma. "He got in a little bit of foul trouble at the beginning of the game but he kept himself engaged. Colby and Kyle did what they do tonight."

But it was junior forward Malik Wildermuth's (Normal, Ill., University HS) defense that drew the most praise from Douma.

"Malik guarded one of Wesleyan's best scorers tonight and he shut him down," he said.

Wildermuth held Nebraska Wesleyan's Cooper Cook to just five points, well below his 18.5-per game average.

Central won the rebound battle 41-36 and shot 52.5 percent from the floor while suffocating the Prairie Wolves into shooting 34.8. The Prairie Wolves were held to just 63 total points, the lowest point total in the team's three years under coach Dale Wellman.

"We won tonight because of our defense and rebounding," said Douma. "We were outstanding in the second half.

Saturday's finale is a repeat of last year's unlikely finale, in which the No. 5-seeded Dutch traveled to Waverly and upset second-seeded Wartburg, 92-80.

Central, which was 0-10 in league tournament games from the start of tourney play in 1999 until finally breaking through in 2010. However, since 2010, the Dutch are 9-3 in tournament action. This will be Central's fourth league tournament final appearance, winning its previous three (2010, 2014, 2015). The Dutch have received 11 NCAA tournament berths.

As the No. 5 seed, the Dutch hadn't anticipated the opportunity for another home appearance, but Douma is hoping to see a packed house for the title game.

"We're excited to be able to host," he said. "I hope our student body and all of the Kuyper Krazies will come out in full force Saturday. Both teams will be playing their third game of the week and we're going to have to feed off our crowd and dig deeper for another 40 minutes."