The Misericordia University basketball teams conclude their regular seasons at Manhattanville Saturday. Both squads have already clinched a Freedom Conference postseason berth, but could also host playoff games depending on the outcome of this weekend's matchups.

On the women's side, there is a four-way tie for first place at 9-4 between MU, Manhattanville, King's and defending champion DeSales.

The picture is clearer for the Misericordia women (14-10 overall), who would own all tiebreakers if they win at Manhattanville, thus guaranteeing them the top seed and home court advantage throughout the Freedom playoffs. A loss could leave the Cougars as the fourth seed however.

In a strange scheduling quirk, the Cougars and Valiants will in all likelihood meet again next Wednesday in the semifinals. Unless either DeSales (at FDU-Florham) or King's (vs. Wilkes) suffers an upset, the winner of the Manhattanville-Misericordia game will host the loser regardless of who emerges victorious.

A similar scenario played out last season, when Misericordia went to Purchase, NY to face the Valiants in the semifinals after losing to them at home in their regular season finale. If DeSales and King's take care of business then MU could achieve a measure of revenge, and a spot in the conference title game, by knocking off Manhattanville twice in turn.

Junior Christine Marks scored 12 points in the first five minutes of a Cougar victory over Manhattanville earlier this year, finishing with 30 points. Classmate Jesse Robinson had 19 points against the Valiants and is nearing 1,000 for her career.

Simona Gordon (14.5 ppg) leads Manhattanville in scoring, while point guard Carey Hickey is leading the league in assists with 6.9 apg.

On the men's side, defending champion DeSales (9-4) sits one game ahead of Misericordia, Wilkes and Delaware Valley (all 8-5 in league play).

The Cougar men own tie-breakers over Wilkes but not Delaware Valley or DeSales. So a win over Manhattanville combined with a Delaware Valley loss at Eastern would give Misericordia the second seed and a home semifinal game. If the Cougars lose they would be the third or fourth seed, depending on whether Wilkes can win at King's. MU is also the three-seed if they win but Delaware Valley manages to grab a road win over the Eagles.

Junior Ethan Eichhorst has proven his MVP credentials this season, converting to more of a post presence and ranking second in the Freedom in scoring (19.5 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (7.5 rpg). The Valiants are led by Trevoy Pointer (16.5 ppg) and big man Peter Mehmel (10.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg).

The women tip-off at 1 PM, while the men are at 3 PM.