CLINTON, Iowa - It's not quite the familiar ring that the NCAA Tournament carries, but February Madness for the Midwest Collegiate Conference is here.

The fourth-seeded Ashford University men's basketball team will host fifth-seeded St. Ambrose University in one of four quarterfinal matchups in the annual conference tourney tomorrow evening.

The Saints (19-11 overall) and Fighting Bees (18-12) are scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. in Kehl Arena. Admission as set by the MCC is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for students.

And if the wild regular season is any indication of how the MCC Tournament will play out, the Saints have just as good of chance as anyone in the field.

No. 9 Iowa Wesleyan College (9-19) defeated No. 8 Clarke College in last night's play-in game to open MCC Tournament action. The Tigers will face top-seeded Grand View University (22-7).

Other matchups for Wednesday night include No. 7 Waldorf College (10-16) traveling to No. 2 Viterbo University (13-14) and No. 3 Mt. Mercy College (22-8) hosting No. 6 William Penn University (20-10).

Ashford and St. Ambrose split the regular-season series, with each squad successfully defending their home court, but both games have been tightly-contested down to the wire.

"Our team has been really excited about the home crowds that have been showing up in Kehl Arena," AU Head Coach Andy Eberhart said. "We would love to see a great turnout tomorrow in support of our team."

The Fighting Bees triumphed first at Lee Lohman Arena in Davenport on Jan. 21 in overtime, prevailing 84-75. But the loss couldn't dampen a special night AU senior guard Daniel Joiner of West Chicago, Ill., who became the program's all-time leading scorer by tying a season-high 29 points.

Sophomore Matthias Burns of Chicago had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Ashford then avenged the road loss by taking care of business at home on Senior Night, handing SAU a close 88-83 loss in recent history.

But Senior Night has been replicated again for seniors Joiner, Byron Emerson of Rockford, Ill., and Brandon Cole of Milwaukee, Wis., and they aren't quite ready to hang up their jerseys just yet.

"We would love another chance to come home," said Joiner following the Saints' Feb. 17 win against St. Ambrose.

SAU sophomore forward Mike Kennedy has been a thorn in the Saints' side, combining for 73 points in both games. He erupted for a career-high 38 in the teams' last meeting, including scoring 30 of his team's 48 points in the second half.

This will be the first time Ashford (then The Franciscan University) and St. Ambrose will have met in the conference tournament since Feb. 23, 2005.

The winner of tomorrow's game advances in the top half of the bracket to meet either Grand View or Iowa Wesleyan in Friday's semifinals.