WALTHAM, Mass. – Graduate student Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half, including the 1,000th of his collegiate career, and senior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) followed with 21 as Bentley University shut down Adelphi University, 81-61, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Wednesday night at the Dana Center.

Bentley (11-3, 8-1 NE-10) remained even in the loss column with Saint Anselm College at the top of the NE-10 Northeast Division standings while Adelphi (14-3, 7-3 NE-10) suffered only its third loss of the season.

It was the third consecutive big first half for Hyland, who reached the 1,000-point milestone with the first of two free throws with 3:17 left in the first. After scoring 22 and 16 in his last two first halves, he made four of seven shots overall, a three-pointer and nine free throws in as many attempts before intermission.

His efforts helped Bentley built a 38-25 halftime lead after nearly doubling the Panthers over the final 11 minutes, 28-15. Hyland scored six during a 12-2 run that made it a 22-12 game with 5:35 left until the break and another eight during an 11-4 spurt that extended the Falcon advantage to 13 for the first time, 33-20.

McFarland, who moved past Tim Forbes '06 into third on Bentley's all-time scoring list (1,752 points), had the hot hand to start the second half. He scored the team's first seven points of a 15-5 run that stretched the lead to 23, 53-30 with 14:36 left.

Later in the second, with the spread at 15, Bentley put the game away with an 18-2 explosion that made it 76-45 with 5:24 remaining. Six different Falcons contributed points during that stretch, including junior guard Matt Barr (Stratham, N.H./Cushing Academy). Making his first career start, he had the final five points of that surge and finished with seven, along with two assists.

Hyland, 6 of 12 from the floor, complemented his 22 points with a game-high nine rebounds, four steals and two assists in 32 turnover-free minutes. McFarland also hit half of his shots and finished with five rebounds and two blocks in addition to his 21 markers.  Also in doubles for the Falcons was senior guard Alex Furness (Wells, Maine/Wells HS), with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Freshman guard Tavon Ginyard (Brentwood, N.Y.) led Adelphi with 19 points, a good share coming late after the outcome had been decided.

Bentley shot 50 percent in the second half to improve to 41.2 percent overall. Adelphi, on the other hand, never warmed up, hitting 10 of 31 in each half (32.3 percent).  Both teams made nine from outside the three-point line.

Bentley dominated the boards, 53-30, with 17 offensive producing a 17-2 windfall in second-chance points. The Falcons finished with a 16-12 free throw advantage despite having Adelphi having 10 to Bentley's two in the second half.

Bentley begins a string of three straight on the road Saturday with a 3:30 game at American International.