WALTHAM, Mass. – Tom Dowling finished with 21 points as Bentley University, ranked No. 1 in the East Region, withstood a late Southern New Hampshire University rally to post an 83-74 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center. The Falcons, who snapped a two-game slide, are now 17-6 and 15-4 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are 10-13 and 6-13 in the league.
Dowling finished 7-10 from the floor and 5-5 at the free throw line to pace four Falcons in double figures. Brian Tracey totaled 18 points and eight rebounds, while Mike Quinn added 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. Jasper Grassa totaled 13 points for Bentley.
Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) paced SNHU with 14 points and seven rebounds, while C.J. Marriro (Boston, Mass.) matched his career-high in scoring with 13 points while grabbing a career-best 12 rebounds. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) and Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.) finished with 11 points apiece.
Southern New Hampshire, which trailed by 22 points in the first half and as many as 20 in the second half, would use a 12-3 run to pull within one, 69-68, on a three by Croteau with just under four minutes to play. On Bentley's next possession, Dowling would answer with a three to make it 72-68. Stapleton made it 72-70 with 2:40 left, but Dowling hit another three to extend the lead to five with 1:47 on the clock. Bentley would seal the win by going 8-8 at the charity stripe over the final 1:10.
The Penmen trailed 44-29 at halftime, but a Tracey three a minute into the second stanza made it 49-29. SNHU used a 10-2 run to pull within 12, 51-39, on a Stapleton three with 16:36 remaining. The guests would chip away at the lead and a Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md.) basket with just under nine minutes left made it 64-56.
Bentley never trailed and opened a 14-4 lead five and a half minutes into the game following a Quinn three-pointer. Southern New Hampshire cut the lead in half with a 10-5 run capped by a Croteau three with 10: 46 left before halftime that made it 19-14. Holding a 25-16 lead, Bentley used an 18-5 run to take their largest lead, 43-21, with 2:08 left before halftime on a Grassa three. The Penmen closed the half on an 8-1 run to trail 44-29 at the break.
The hosts took 15 more trips to the free throw line, with Bentley going 20-26 at the free throw line while the Penmen were 8-11 at the stripe. The Falcons, who outrebounded SNHU 37-35, went 11-29 behind the arc while the Penmen were 8-27 from downtown.
Southern New Hampshire returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Saint Michael's College in a 7:30 contest.
