Since this is the busiest night of championship week, at least by volume of games, there will be a lot of special players who finish their sports career this evening. I could try to wax poetic about this, but others like Steve Mistler have already done so more adeptly. Mistler, who writes for the Forecaster publications in Maine, wrote this in his blog about the 2006 NCAA women’s tournament game between Southern Maine and Bowdoin.

“The finality of the last game is no more palpable than it is in Division III. There is no next game for seniors like [Justine] Pouravelis, Lauren Withey, Ashleigh Watson and Vanessa Russell. And if you think the magnitude of that is overstated, then you really needed to see USM senior Ashley Marble abandon her fear of a fifth foul to grab a critical offensive rebound and score the go-ahead bucket with 1:15 remaining in her career; or the complete devastation slowly, inevitably wash over Russell as her last-second 3-pointer at the buzzer clanged off the rim; or when it was over, the ever-quotable, jovial Pouravelis – who played Saturday’s game with a heavier heart than most will ever know – slumped over the media table and muttering broken syntax into reporters’ microphones.”

We can’t get to all the players facing similar emotions tonight, but here are a few who made All-Region last year and tonight fight for one more game.

– Andrew Zimmer, Wabash: The Little Giants big man averages 17.5 ppg (3rd best in NCAC) and 7.5 rpg (4th best in the NCAC). The preseason coaches’ poll predicted Wabash to finish fourth just in front of Kenyon, but reality worked out the other way around. The Lords beat the Little Giants 67-66 in Gambier, Ohio in the teams’ conference opener.

– Jeremiah Lawrence, Shenandoah: Lawrence finished the season on a tear for SU with nine consecutive double-doubles. He needs just three rebounds tonight for 1,000 in his career. Don’t expect the Pride to feel bad about ruining Lawrence’s party. They already did that once this year when they beat the Hornets on the night Lawrence set the school career rebounding record.

– Whitney Tyriver, UW-Oshkosh: The senior from Oshkosh, WI probably played her last game at home but at least it was a memorable performance – 24 points, 9 rebounds and eight steals against UW-Superior. She and her Titan teammates have a tall order since they open the WIAC tournament at No. 19 UW-Stevens Point.

Feel free to talk up these or other games as lots of tournaments get underway.

All listings are EST

6:00 pm: Men – Wabash @ Kenyon (NCAC tournament) (Video // Audio)

7:00 pm: Men – Greensboro @ Shenandoah (USAC tournament) (Live Stats // Audio)

8:00 pm: Women – UW-Oshkosh @ No. 19 UW-Stevens Point (WIAC tournament) (Audio // Live Stats)