Six-foot-eight senior Pierre Cumpstone (Bainbridge Township, Ohio), who finished with 27 points and 15 rebounds, and senior guard Adam Bramanti (Middleton) each buried five from deep to power Stonehill, which completed a season sweep of the series with the Falcons.

Bentley's second straight loss,  coupled with Franklin Pierce upending Saint Anselm, tightened things in the NE-10s's Northeast-10 Division. The Falcons (15-5, 12-3 NE-10) remained tied for first with Saint Anselm (17-3, 12-3) with Stonehill (16-5, 11-4) moving to within a game of first with six to play.

Bentley was led by senior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hils HS) and grad student Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS), who accounted for 44 of the Falcons' 71 points. McFarland finished with 25 points and eight boards while Hyland followed with 19.

The night started on a positive note with a Hyland three producing a 12-6 lead six-and-a-half minutes in. At that point, Stonehill had misfired on six of eight shots, including three from long range.

The Skyhawks followed with a 12-3 run, including threes from Bramanti and sophomore forward Joel Borroa (Lawrence), to grab an 18-15 advantage.  After a couple more lead changes and a tie, senior guard Carter Smith (Columbus, Ohio) connected from distance to put Stonehill in front to stay, 24-21.

That triple began a 19-6 run that made it a 40-27 game with 2:30 left in the half.

After Hyland canned a three to open the second-half scoring, the Skyhawks opened it up with a 10-2 spurt, including two Bramanti threes. That stretched the differential to 15, 54-39, and the Skyhawk lead remained in doubles the rest of the way.

It was a 12-point game with 11:50 to play when Stonehill used a 13-5 run to make it 75-55 with 8:57 left. Nine of the 13 came via the three, including two from Bramanti.

Both McFarland (9-16) and Hyland (7-12) shot the ball well but the rest of the Falcons were just 10 of 27, including only 3 of 13 from deep. Freshman guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./Thompson Collegiate) was the only other Bentley player with more than five points as he scored 11 off the bench.

Cumpstone had a great  shooting night, with his 11 of 15 including five of seven from beyond the arc. Bramanti made five of eight from deep for 17 points and junior forward Ryan Logan (Fredericktown, Ohio) was a factor inside with 18 points and five assists, most of which led to threes.

Stonehill finished with a .561 field goal percentage, including .552 from three. The Skyhawks, now 11-1 at home, committed only seven turnovers (Bentley had 10) and finished with a 33-27 rebound advantage. Points off turnovers favored the home team, 11-2, as did second-chance points (19-11).

Bentley, which was ranked third in the D2SIDA Division II East Region rankings, will look to get back on track Saturday when it hosts Assumption at 3:30 pm.