No. 1 Bentley Outlasts Men's Basketball 76-60

BOX SCORE

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Jason Westrol (Brielle, NJ) totaled 19 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 1 Bentley College to a 76-60 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Southern New Hampshire University Thursday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Falcons, who have now won 45 straight regular season games dating back to the 2005-06 season, are now 18-0 and 13-0 in NE-10 play, while the Penmen are now 9-9 and 6-7 in the league.

Westrol led three Falcons in double figures.  Nate Fritsch (Durham, NC) totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while Lew Finnegan (Lexington, MA) added 14 points.  Yusuf Abdul-Ali (Springfield, MA) had seven points, six assists and four steals.

Gerald Carter (Harlem, NY) totaled 13 points, while Chase Miller (Fairfax, VA) added 11 for the Penmen.  Cory Vejraska (Alachua, FL), Sam Carey (Manchester, NH) and James Roman (Pelham, NH) each finished with eight points.  Carey was limited to just 21 minutes due to foul trouble all evening.

Bentley led 39-29 at halftime, but the Penmen outscored the Falcons 12-6 over the first six minutes of the second half and a Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH) layup at the 14:06 mark made it 45-41.  Bentley scored six straight points coming out of a timeout to make it 52-41 with 12:17 left on a Mike Quinn (Oakdale, CT) three, and grew the lead to 14 with just under 10 minutes left on a Abdul-Ali layup.

SNHU would respond with a 8-0 run and a three by Miller with 7:13 on the clock cut the Falcon lead to six, 61-55.  That would be as close as Southern New Hampshire would get, as Bentley outscored SNHU 15-5 the rest of the way and closed the game with seven unanswered points.

The guests jumped out of the gate quickly, building an 18-2 lead just six and a half minutes into the contest following a Fritsch layup.  SNHU would claw their way back into it, cutting the lead to 26-17 with just over seven minutes before halftime on a Carey basket.  Bentley would once again pull away, using a 10-2 run to make it 36-19 with 4:12 on the clock following a pair of Finnegan free throws. 

The Penmen would close the half on a 6-0 run and a basket by Roman with 37 seconds left before the break made it a 39-29 game heading to the locker room.

Bentley owned a commanding 40-22 rebounding advantage, including a 19-6 lead on the offensive glass.  Both teams shot the ball well (Bentley 47.6%; SNHU 49.1%), but the Falcons generated 10 more field goal opportunities (63-53) and also doubled the Penmen's trips to the line (12-6).

SNHU returns to action Saturday when it travels to Southern Connecticut State University for a 3:30 contest.