WALTHAM, Mass. – With the season down to its final four regular season games, every game is important for the Bentley University men's basketball team and most of the others in the Northeast Division of the Northeast-10 Conference.

The Falcons, currently tied for fourth in the Northeast, will make their second trip to Manchester, N.H. in four days Saturday to take on the division leader, Saint Anselm College. Game time at Saint Anselm's Stoutenburgh Gym is 3:30 with a webcast at www.saintanselmhawks.tv.

Bentley, which has alternated wins and losses since mid-December, will be looking to extend that streak after falling to Southern New Hampshire, 89-74, Wednesday. That dropped the Falcons (12-10, 9-8 NE10) into a tie for fifth in the division with SNHU, with both a game ahead of surging Franklin Pierce.

Five teams qualify for the conference championship tournament with Franklin Pierce looking to displace one of the five teams it follows in the standings. Bentley and SNHU are also just one game back of Stonehill in the battle for third place.

Meanwhile, Saint Anselm (3-3 in its last 6 games) is looking to hold off Merrimack in the battle for the division title. The Hawks (17-6, 12-5 NE10, 11-1 at home) lead the Warriors (15-9, 11-6) by one heading into the weekend.

Two of the premier junior guards in the NE10, Bentley's Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./ Thomson Collegiate) and Saint Anselm's Tim Guers, will be on display Saturday. Richmond's 22.7 scoring average is third best in the conference with Guers immediately following him at 22.5.

Richmond, who has played 94 percent of the minutes since the first of January, has averaged over 25 points in the Falcons' last ten games, including 24 at SNHU where he was 8-of-8 at the foul stripe. In addition to his scoring, he averages 4.3 rebounds and nearly four assists a game.

Guers, whose resume includes 41 points against Adelphi and four other 30-point games, also ranks in the top five in the conference in rebounds (7.6) and assists (5.6).

Forwards Chris Hudson (Hodgdon, Maine/Northampton Williston HS) and Zach Gilpin (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) are the other primary scoring threats for Bentley, both providing a little more than a dozen points a game. Hudson's .575 field goal percentage is fourth in the NE10 and Gilpin has made 44 percent of his three-pointers, sinking nearly two a game.

Guards Cody Ball and Taylor Fortin complement Guers for Saint Anselm with averages of 14.7 and 14.0 points, respectively. Ball is among the NE10 three-point leaders with 67 and Fortin (141 assists) has been involved in 36 percent of his team's field goals.

Two months ago in the earlier meeting of these two teams, Guers broke a deadlock with two free throws with 3.9 seconds left to lift the Hawks to an 88-86 win. Bentley, which battled back from 12 down in the final 6:40, received a game-high 29 points from Richmond. Both teams shot over 50 percent, but Saint Anselm was one of only six teams to outrebound Bentley this season, finishing with a 36-29 advantage.

After facing the Hawks, Bentley will have the final two home games of the regular season next week, St. Michael's on Wednesday and Merrimack on Saturday. The regular season will conclude at Franklin Pierce on Feb. 20.