Clark College men’s basketball team, winners of three straight, wraps up its regular-season at 4 p.m. Saturday against Linn-Benton.
The Penguins are still in the hunt for the region championship and the top spot in the Northwest Athletic Conference tournament starting March 8-9 at Everett.
South Region leader Umpqua (10-6) already has clinched a playoff berth, and finished its regular-season schedule with a half-game lead on Clark (9-6).
The Penguins, alone in second place, swept the season series with Umpqua, and can clinch the title outright and the region’s top spot in the NWAC Tournament with the victory Saturday at Albany, Ore.
A loss to Linn-Benton complicates things.
Five NWAC South teams are tied for third at 8-7 — Clackamas, Mt. Hood, Portland, Linn-Benton and Chemeketa — with one game remaining.
The top four teams advance to the NWAC Tournament.
According to the NWAC South Region’s Standard Operating Procedures, tiebreaker procedures starts with the following: A) Cumulative league records among all tied teams; if a tie still exists, B) Head-to-head competition vs. higher finisher(s) until the tie is broken.
Clark swept the season series with Clackamas, and split with Mt. Hood, and lost twice to Portland and Chemeketa. The Penguins defeated Linn-Benton, 83-64, in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 28.
