Tejay Anderson and the Erie BayHawks haven't lost sight of what's at stake tonight. A win at Fort Wayne will earn them a playoff bid in their first season in the D-League. Erie is 3-2 vs. the Mad Ants.

Win and they’re in.

A victory at Fort Wayne tonight (7:30 p.m.) will put the Erie BayHawks in the playoffs in their first year in the D-League.

A loss will put them in a must-win situation Saturday against the Mad Ants at home only if Sioux Falls is able to win at Iowa tonight.

Sounds simple enough? Well, not exactly.

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All-Star power forward Erik Daniels and the Erie BayHawks still have a fighting chance to win the Central Division in their first year in the D-League.

Yep.

The Erie BayHawks (25-23) can still win the Central Division, get one of those top three seeds in the D-League playoffs and home-court advantage in their first-round game.

The BayHawks are a game out of first place in the Central Division behind co-leaders Iowa (26-24) and Dakota (26-24). Erie finishes the regular season with back-to-back games against Fort Wayne (19-29).

The first one is at Fort Wayne and the regular-season finale is Saturday at home. Erie is 3-2 against the Mad Ants, winning all three at home and losing two at Fort Wayne.

Iowa closes out the regular season with home games against Dakota on Thursday and against Sioux Falls (24-24) on Friday. As for Dakota, the Wizards follow their game at Iowa with a regular-season finale at home against Anaheim (15-32) on Friday.

Looking at head-to-head tiebreaker situations, Erie has the tiebreaker against Iowa, but not Dakota. Iowa has the tiebreaker against Dakota regardless of what happens in that last game between the two.

So let’s have some fun with this.

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All-Star guard Will Conroy and the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (23-23) are on the outside looking in for a playoff spot, but Erie must remain leery of them because they own the tiebreaker against the BayHawks (25-23).

The Erie BayHawks (25-23) are still holding on to the eighth and final playoff spot after the Albuquerque Thunderbirds lost at Reno, 115-101, Sunday night.

Had the Thunderbirds (23-23) won, they would have been tied with Erie for that eighth spot and they own the tiebreaker against the BayHawks. So Erie would be on the outside looking in again.

In looking Erie’s chances to win the Central Division and get one of the top three playoff seeds, Rio Grande Valley helped Erie by beating the Central Division-leading Iowa Energy, 113-101, Sunday night.

Now Iowa (26-22) is tied with Dakota (26-22) for the Central Division lead while Erie is just a game behind both of them.

Just for the record: Former Erie point guard Cliff Clinkscales had four points, five assists and five rebounds in helping Rio Grande Valley beat Iowa.

Now back to our originally scheduled point.

Remember, Erie has the tiebreaker edge against Iowa, but not against Dakota.

Iowa’s final two games are against Dakota and Sioux Falls (24-24). The Energy have lost four straight games, six of their last seven, but their final two regular-season games are at home.

Dakota’s other game is at home against Anaheim (15-32).

Now Erie’s final two games are this upcoming weekend against Fort Wayne. The BayHawks play at Fort Wayne on Friday night and at home Saturday night.

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Maureece Rice has helped keep the Erie BayHawks in playoff contention by averaging 24.3 points in 13 games since the all-star break. That's nearly seven more points than his season average of 17.9.

Bunched together.

That’s how the bottom of the D-League playoff chase looks right now.

After Sunday’s games, the Erie BayHawks (24-22), Dakota Wizards (23-21), Albuquerque Thunderbirds (23-21) and Sioux Falls Skyforce (24-22) are tied for the seventh spot.

Eight teams make the playoffs. So four teams are vying for two playoff spots.

Here’s how they stack up in head-to-head scenarios.

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