WALTHAM, Mass. – A costly fumble return for a touchdown by the University of New Haven with 10 minutes to play flipped the momentum and gave the Chargers a hard-fought 21-13 win over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference football Friday night on the Bentley Football Field.

New Haven, ranked 23^rd nationally in Division II, extended its winning streak against NE10 opponents to 15 games while Bentley's home winning streak was snapped at nine.

Bentley, after falling behind 14-3 after the opening 21 minutes, trailed by only four at the half following a four-yard TD run by junior Vinnie Holmes (Mansfield/Mansfield HS) with 40 seconds left in the second. That put the finishing touches on a 13-play, 75-yard march that encompassed eight-and-a-half minutes.

The lengthy drive included two third-down conversion passes from graduate QB Mark Waid (Cortland, Ohio/Girard HS) to sophomore Isaiah Decias (Ozone Park, N.Y./Hudson Catholic HS). The first was on a third-and-19 from the Bentley 37 and the second on a third-and-12 from the Charger 46.

Following a scoreless third quarter, Bentley made it a one-point game when junior Mason Campbell (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) made a 21-yard field goal with 12:50 remaining. It was Campbell's second of the game (28-yarder in the first) and fifth of the season.

Bentley forced a three-and-out on New Haven's next possession, but after taking possession at midfield, the key play of the game occurred. Waid was stripped by senior defensive lineman Jack Quander (Gainesville, Va.) and the ball was scooped up and returned for a score by graduate linebacker David Onyemem (Dracut).

The Falcons had two more possessions but neither resulted in a first down. New Haven (3-1, 2-0 NE10) got the ball back for the final time with 3:55 to play and was able to run out the clock.

 Offense was at a premium most of the night as Bentley finished with 222 yards and the Chargers had 209, including just 91 over the final three quarters.

Waid completed six of 13 passes for 86 yards and also ran for a team-best 78 yards on ten carries. Holmes carried the ball 21 times for 52 yards.

New Haven's offense was led by sophomore running back Christopher Ais with 26 carries for 131 yards, including 110 in the first half.

Junior linebacker Salvatore Lupoli Jr. (Chelmsford/Chelmsford HS) led Bentley with a season-high 15 tackles and senior LB Christian Lanzalotto (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven HS) followed with eight.

Bentley also received a strong performance from senior punter Charlie Ogletree (Needham/Needham HS), who averaged 51 yards on his three kicks.

Next week, Bentley will play a 1:00 pm game at Franklin Pierce University.