WALTHAM, Mass. – Grad student and 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America® Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) scored 23 points, including five during a 14-0 start to the game, as Bentley University went wire-to-wire for a 77-60 win over St. Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Wednesday night at the Dana Center.

With the victory, Bentley  (18-6, 15-4 NE-10) remained atop the conference's Northeast Division standings with a one-game lead over Saint Anselm College, a 71-66 winner over Stonehill College, with two to play. The two clubs will square off Saturday afternoon in Manchester, N.H. (3:30 pm).

Senior guard Alex Furness (Wells, Maine/Wells HS) opened the game's scoring with the first of 15 Falcon three-pointers. Hyland followed with a lay-up, junior guard Ferguson Duke (Dartmouth, N.S./ Hun School (N.J.)) converted a three-point play, Hyland stuck a three from the left wing and senior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) did the same from the other side.

Meanwhile, St. Michael's came up empty on its first eight possessions. The Purple Knights (6-18, 4-15 NE-10) ended their dry spell with just under four minutes elapsed when freshman guard Levi Holmes III (East Brunswick, N.J.) hit a long jumper.

A three from Duke with 9:58 left in the first made it a 20-point game for the first time, 23-3, and the first-half lead peaked at 24, 43-19, with 1:13 remaining until the halftime break.

The second-half differential ranged from 16 to 26, the latter coming after a pair of McFarland free throws two minutes in that made it 47-21.

Hyland made half of his 18 shots with five of his field goals coming from outside the arc. He also gave the Falcons nine rebounds, two blocks and a pair of assists.

Furness followed with 13 points, two steals and two blocks, and the Falcons also received 10 points apiece from McFarland and Duke. McFarland, who also amassed nine rebounds and two steals, finished the game a dozen points shy of becoming Bentley's third 2,000-point scorer.

Junior forward Matt Bonds (Accokeek, Md.) put up his 17th double-double of the season for St. Michael's, finishing with 17 points and ten rebounds.

St. Michael's actually had a better field goal percentage (.407 to .403), but there was a huge difference from downtown. The Falcons made a dozen more, finishing 15 of 40 as compared to the Purple Knights' 3 of 16.

Bentley, number five in this week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings, finished with a 29-8 advantage in in points off turnovers after coming up with ten steals. The Falcons lost the ball only eight times while St. Michael's turned it over 17 times.