MANCHESTER, N.H. – Greg Jacques totaled a game-high 19 points as Bentley University, trailing much of the second half, pulled out a 54-50 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Southern New Hampshire University at the SNHU Fieldhouse Sunday. The Falcons won their fourth in a row to improve to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are now 2-3 and 0-3 in the league.
Jacques, who registered a career-high, also finished with six rebounds and four assists. Tom Dowling was the other Falcon in double figures as he totaled 11 points. Mike Quinn and Joe Fremeau, a Manchester (N.H.) Central HS product, added seven points apiece.
Freshman Nikola Canic (Belgrade, Serbia) went 6-7 from the floor, including 3-4 behind the arc, and finished with a career-best 15 points for SNHU while adding three rebounds and three assists. Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) also totaled 15points for SNHU, going 7-11 from the floor while grabbing five rebounds. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) and Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md.) contributed eight points apiece.
Bentley, which trailed by as many as eight in the second half, took its first lead since early in the first half with 1:17 to play when Jacques made 1-of-2 at the line. The Falcons would control the miss of the second free throw then an offensive rebound on a Dowling miss with 44 seconds left. Dowling would be fouled with 35 seconds left and sank a pair to make it 53-50.
On the other end, Morgan-Green missed a layup with 13 seconds left but Stapleton controlled the rebound and was fouled on his putback attempt. Stapleton missed both free throws and Bentley controlled the rebound. Kevin Kettl would make 1-of-2 with 11 seconds to go to seal the win for the Falcons.
SNHU led 34-26 at halftime and held a 38-30 lead five minutes into the second half following a Stapleton basket. Bentley would score eight unanswered points and tie the game with 12 minutes to go on a layup by Jacques. With the game tied 40-40, SNHU would get back-to-back threes from Morgan-Green and Vejraska to build a 46-40 lead with just under seven minutes to play.
Bentley tied the game at 48 apiece with 1:58 left, but Stapleton would sink two free throws on SNHU's next possession to make it 50-48. Jacques would answer with a basket at the other end and get fouled. He missed the free throw but the Falcons maintained possession.
The Penmen led much of the first half and used a late 10-2 run to build a 34-22 lead with just over two minutes to go in the first half on a Vejraska layup. Bentley would score the final four points of the half to make it 34-26 at halftime.
Bentley limited the Penmen to just 5-25 shooting for the game. The Falcons made 10 more trips to the free throw line, going 10-17, while SNHU was 4-7. Southern New Hampshire held a 40-36 rebounding advantage.
Southern New Hampshire returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Saint Michael's College for a 7:30 contest.
