WALTHAM, Mass. – Although the Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball championship tournament doesn't officially begin until Friday, Tuesday night will essentially be the start of the playoffs when the Bentley University Falcons close out the regular season against Franklin Pierce University at the FPU Field House (7:30 pm).

The winner will be the number five seed out of the NE-10's Northeast Division unless Franklin Pierce prevails and Merrimack prevails at St. Michael's in another Tuesday night game. In that case, Merrimack would be the one to see its season continue by virtue of the conference tie-breaker. Regardless of what happens in that game, the Bentley-Franklin Pierce loser will have played its final game of 2014-15.

In looking at the two teams, Bentley has the better records with the Falcons 15-11 overall and 10-10 in conference play. Franklin Pierce is a game above .500 at 14-13 and 9-11 in NE-10 contests. Both have struggled down the stretch with both having dropped four of their last five.

Three-pointers are expected to be flying with Franklin Pierce connecting on a conference-high 10.5 a game and the Falcons number three overall at 9.6. Both clubs shoot just about 37 percent from behind the arc.

The two teams met in Waltham back on New Year's Eve afternoon with the Falcons shooting 55 percent overall and doubling the Ravens on the boards, 42-21, during an 84-68 victory. Senior guard Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) led Bentley with 21 points, classmate J.P. Koury (Red Bank, N.J./ CBA) followed with 17 and junior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) put up a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Bentley will head to Rindge with two of the NE-10's top five scorers with McFarland averaging 19.4 and Hyland right behind him at 19.0. The Falcons' highest scoring duo in 25 years, McFarland has recorded the 20th 500-point season in Falcon annals and Hyland is just six points away from joining him in that club.

On the career scoring list, McFarland (1,428 points) is two away from passing Ray Andersen '71 for 18th in program history and 15 away from moving ahead of recent NE-10 Hall of Fame inductee Nate Fritsch '08 for 17th. He's also up to number three in career blocks with 108, half of which have come this season.

Hyland, who has another year of eligibility remaining, is coming off a 27-point, 12-rebound double-double against Stonehill Saturday. He leads the Falcons in assists (94) and is second to McFarland in most other categories.

Tuesday's contest will be the final regular season game for two of the Falcons' top seven, Koury and senior forward Andrew Shaw (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy). Koury has averaged 9.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.7 steals. Shaw, 13th in program history in career threes with 162, leads the team's non-starters with a 6.4 scoring average.

One of the few NE-10 players above McFarland and Hyland on the scoring list is Raven senior forward Ryen Vilmont, a sharp-shooter who has drained 107 three-pointers while averaging 20.1 points. No other Division II player in the country can match that three-point total.

Senior guard Paul Becklens and sophomore guard Donte Gittens are other players to pay attention to with each netting over 12 points a game. Becklens leads the NE-10 in assists, delivering nearly six a game, and is third in steals with 54.

A road encounter Friday night with the Southwest Division's fourth seed, either New Haven or Le Moyne, awaits the Northeast's number five.