WALTHAM, Mass. – After a weekend trip to Vermont, the Bentley University men's basketball team will be back on the road Tuesday with the Falcons traveling to Long Island for a 7 pm encounter with 6-1 Molloy College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm at the Quealey Gymnasium.

Bentley, 3-5 overall, will be looking to get back on track after having its two-game winning streak halted by St. Michael's Saturday, 95-87. The Falcons led by as many as 16 in the first half, but were brought down by impressive three-point shooting by the Purple Knights (12 of 22).

Molloy, a first-time opponent for the Falcons, has won four in a row, most recently 78-65 over Mercy College, to improve to 6-1 overall. Included was a 79-77 neutral court victory over St. Michael's back on Nov. 16.

Bentley, one of only four East Region teams averaging at least 80 points a game, is powered by the tandem of junior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) and senior guard Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS), both of whom are scoring over 18 a game.

McFarland, who has climbed to 36th on Bentley's all-time scoring list (1,073) after becoming the program's 50th 1,000-point scorer last month, leads the club in a number of categories, including scoring (18.8), rebounds (7.0), field goal percentage (.514), three-point accuracy (.500) and blocks (a conference-leading 19).

Hyland filled the stat sheet at St. Michael's with 26 points, eight assists and six rebounds, a performance that raised his season averages to 18.5 points and six rebounds. He knocked down four treys against the Purple Knights and is tied with McFarland for the team lead in that department with 19.

Sophomore guard Ferguson Duke (Dartmouth, N.S./Hun School (N.J.)) put up 17 points twice last week, the two highest-scoring games of his career, to elevate his season norm to 10.5. Over the last four games, he's shot 53 percent from outside, hitting 9 of 17.

Junior forward Shaq Phelps (Linden, N.J./Linden HS), who made his first career start at St. Michael's, has produced 12 points and 6.7 rebounds a game over the last three, hitting 64 percent of his shots.  Senior guard JP Koury (Red Bank, N.J./CBA), who averages 9.8 points and five rebounds, has had multiple steals in eight of his last 11 games, dating back to last season.

Keys to Molloy's early season success have included the ability to force turnovers and a sparkling .807 free throw percentage, third best nationally in Division II. The Lions lead the East Region in turnover margin (+6.6) and are tied, with Bentley, for the third-fewest turnovers committed.  Those numbers counteract their opponents shooting better (.438 to .413) and getting outrebounded by 7.4 a game.  

Four of Molloy's starters are averaging double-figure points and at least 1.3 steals. Junior guard Brandon Williams leads the way at 15.7 points and 1.9 steals, and sophomore guard Jaylen Morris follows at 15.0 and 1.7. He's also 17 of 18 from the line.

After facing the Lions, Bentley will return home to host Le Moyne College Sunday afternoon.

Links to live stats, video and audio for Tuesday's game at Molloy are posted at www.bentleyfalcons.com.