WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior quarterback Mack Lowrie (Foxborough/Roxbury Latin HS) threw five touchdown passes, including three to freshman wide receiver Austin Ryan (Foxborough/Foxborough HS), and junior safety Nick Athy (Holliston/Holliston HS) was involved in four of his team's six takeaways as Bentley University celebrated Homecoming by stunning LIU Post, the ninth-ranked team in Division II, 40-21 in Northeast-10 Conference football Saturday afternoon.

Bentley, with its third straight victory, improved to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference, good for a tie for first place. LIU Post, whose last regular season loss came against Bentley in November 2015 in its last trip to Waltham, dipped to 3-1 overall (2-1 NE10).

Four of the Falcons' first five possessions ended with Lowrie TD passes as Bentley opened a 26-7 lead late in the opening half. The first two were hauled in by junior slot receiver Drew Mahoney (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield Academy), a seven-yarder and a 20-yarder as coach Bill Kavanaugh's club finished the opening quarter with a 12-0 lead.

The first came eight plays after a short punt gave Bentley the ball on the Pioneer 35 and the second followed an Athy fumble recovery at the LIU Post 39 after a force from senior linebacker Brandon Brown (Oxon Hill, Md./Suitland HS).

Lowrie and Ryan teamed up on a pair of scoring passing passes in the second with the Falcon QB hitting the rookie in stride in the end zone twice. A 22-yarder capped a nine-play, 71-yard drive and after a Pioneer score, a 29-yarder finished a 12-play, 78-yard march. Ryan finished with three TD catches for 107 yards.

The only scoring of the third quarter came with 8:58 left, a five-yard pass from senior Yianni Gavalas (Manhasset, N.Y.) to classmate Michael Richardson (West Babylon, N.Y.).

The visitors threatened to draw closer on their next possession before an 11-play, 44-yard drive was snuffed out by an Athy interception. It was the Falcons' fourth INT in the end zone in the last two games, a stretch in which they've totaled 11 takeaways.

LIU Post did succeed on getting within five points, 26-21, with 8:33 left in fourth, scoring on a three-yard pass from Gavalas to sophomore Amir Crenshaw (Bronx, N.Y.).

It didn't stay that way very long. Following a short kickoff and a pass interference on LIU Post, Lowrie and Ryan did it again. The two teamed up on a 50-yarder, Ryan again catching the ball in stride before taking it untouched in for the score.

LIU Post fumbled on its first possession after the TD with Falcon junior linebacker Andrew Carmichael (Wayland/Wayland HS) recovering at the LIU 32. That possession culminated with a 15-yard scoring run by freshman Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./Bishop Ahr HS), making it a commanding 40-21 lead with 4:43 left.

Lowrie finished 18 of 28 for 255 yards with eight of his completions going to Mahoney (54 yards). Brazicki led the ground game with 16 carries for 60 yards.

For the Pioneers, Gavalas was 37 of 47 for 290 yards, three TDs and two interceptions (twice as many as he had in the first three games). Junior Malik Pierre (Holbrook, N.Y.) totaled 204 all-purpose yards for LIU Post, including 14 carries for 123 yards.

Athy's line included eight tackles, two fumble recoveries, two interceptions and a pass break-up. Brown led the Falcons with 11 tackles and senior linebacker Aaron Chretien (Commerce Township, Mich./Walled Lake Northern HS) followed with ten.

Bentley, which had only one turnover, finished with 357 total yards and 19 first downs. The Falcons converted 7 of 16 third downs and were 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions. LIU Post had the statistical edge in yardage (462 yards, 24 first downs) but couldn't overcome the Falcons' highest takeaway count since 2009.

Bentley will complete the first half of the season next Saturday at Pace (12 noon).