Tracey, Grassa Combine for 31 as Bentley Shuts Down Franklin Pierce for 6th Straight

Tracey, Grassa Combine for 31 as Bentley Shuts Down Franklin Pierce for 6th Straight

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Senior forward  Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo./Heritage HS) made eight of his first nine shots en route to a 17-point afternoon, and freshman guard Jasper Grassa (Lynn/Lynn Classical HS) provided a career-best 14 points off the bench, as Bentley University remained undefeated in the Northeast-10 and extended its winning streak to six with a 65-46 win over Franklin Pierce University in men's college basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center.

Bentley, which improved to 6-2 overall and 5-0 in the Northeast-10, cruised to the win after vaulting out to a 42-18 halftime lead. Franklin Pierce, the fourth NE-10 team to be held to less than 54 points by the Falcon D during the streak, dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the conference.

After trailing early by a count of 9-6, Bentley used a 34-7 blitzing over a span of 15:40 to build a commanding 24-point lead, 40-16, about a minute before the halftime break. Franklin Pierce, during the opening half, was limited to just 27 percent shooting with only four points in the paint. The Ravens, who had luck from three early, didn't hit a shot from inside the arc until more than 11 minutes into the game.

Tracey and Grassa were a combined 8-of-8 in the half with Tracey hitting five shots for 11 points and Grassa burying three trifectas for nine.

Those two were a significant reason for the Falcons' first-half shooting marks of .567 overall and .500 (6-12) from three.

Lay-ups from junior guard Greg Jacques (Brockton/St. Sebastian's HS) and Tracey opened the second-half scoring and extended the Falcon advantage to 28 at 46-18. It was still a 28-point spread, 59-31, at the midpoint of the second half, before the Falcons went cold down the stretch, which lowered the team's field goal percentage to .435.

Tracey, who finished 8 of 11 from the floor, also contributed seven rebounds. Grassa, in his finest effort as a collegian, was four of six from three-point land. Sophomore forward Dan O'Keefe (Lexington, Mass./Lexington HS) added eight points off the bench, and both Jacques and junior guard Sam Leclerc (Fayette, Maine/Winthrop HS) finished with six points.

Franklin Pierce's backcourt duo of Kinard Dozier (Dedham) and Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who entered the game averaging a combined 34 points, both struggled, teaming for only 12 points on 3-14 shooting. Freshman Ellis Cooper (Northampton) was the Ravens' top scorer with nine points.

Franklin Pierce shot only 29 percent overall and was outrebounded 43-36. Both teams were careless with the ball (45 total turnovers), but it was Bentley who took advantage with a 25-11 edge in points off.

Bentley will play its final home game of 2010 on Wednesday, a 7:30 encounter with Stonehill College.

 

At Waltham, Mass. (Dana Center)

BENTLEY 65, FRANKLIN PIERCE 46

FRANKLIN PIERCE (3-5, 1-4 NE-10) -- Ellis Cooper 3-6 2-2 9; Eric Jean-Guillaume 2-4 0-0 6; Matt Barboza 3-9 0-0 6; Kinard Dozier 1-10 4-4 6; Andre Blackwood 2-6 0-0 5; Jeff Manchester 2-7 0-0 5; Paul Dick 2-2 0-0 5; Adedamola Abu 2-3 0-0 4; A. Vourliotakis-Perolikaris 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Washington 0-3 0-1 0; Jason Pranulis 0-0 0-0 0; Josh Jones 0-1 0-0 0; Nigel Van Oostrum 0-6 0-0 0; Dayshawn Long 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-58 6-7 46.

BENTLEY (6-2, 5-0 NE-10) -- Brian Tracey 8-11 0-0 17; Jasper Grassa 5-9 0-0 14; Dan O'Keefe 3-5 2-2 8; Greg Jacques 3-9 0-1 6; Sam Leclerc 2-7 0-1 6; Tom Dowling 2-6 0-0 4; Mike Quinn 1-6 2-2 4; Joe Fremeau 2-5 0-0 4; Kevin Kettl 1-3 0-0 2; Jacob Moore 0-1 0-0 0; Mikerson Laurent 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 4-6 65.

Halftime: B 42-18; 3-point goals--FP 6-27 (Jean-Guillaume 2-3; Manchester 1-4; Blackwood 1-4; Cooper 1-2; Dick 1-1; Jones 0-1; Van Oostrum 0-4; Long 0-1; Dozier 0-6; Barboza 0-1), B 7-23 (Grassa 4-6; Leclerc 2-6; Tracey 1-1; Dowling 0-4; Quinn 0-3; Moore 0-1; Jacques 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--FP 36 (Dozier 7), B 43 (Quinn 8). Assists--FP 9 (Dozier 3), B 18 (Fremeau 4). Total fouls--FP 12, B 13. Technical fouls--None.