No. 24 Bentley Will Look to Get Back on Winning Track Wednesday at Adelphi
WALTHAM, Mass. – After dropping two of its last three games, the Bentley University men's basketball team will look to get back on track when it plays at Adelphi University Wednesday evening. Tip-off at the Center for Sport and Recreation is set for 7:30 pm and the game can be viewed over the NE10 NOW Digital Network.
Bentley will make its third trip of the season to Long Island with records of 15-3 overall and 8-3 Northeast-10 following a 92-80 home loss to New Haven on Saturday. The Falcons, already assured of a 23rd winning season in the last 24 years, are ranked 24th in Division II this week and are second in the NE10's Northeast Division, two games back of Saint Anselm.
They'll be facing an Adelphi Panther team that has won five of six this month, including a 98-89 victory over Saint Anselm. The Panthers are 11-7 overall, 5-5 in conference play, 6-3 at home and despite the win over the nationally-ranked Hawks, 2-6 against teams with a winning record.
The last two regular season meetings between the two clubs have gone to overtime with the home team prevailing both times. Adelphi pulled out an 88-82 victory in 2017 and Bentley turned the tables last year in Waltham, 83-81.
The two teams also met at Adelphi in the 2017 NE10 playoffs with the Panthers prevailing 101-91 despite a school-record 45 points from Bentley guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./ Thomson Collegiate), the reigning NE10 Player of the Week.
Richmond, the number four scorer in Bentley history (1,833 points) and the NE10's top point-producer with a 23.3 average, is coming off a prolific offensive week. He missed his own school record by only one point against American International and poured in 33 points, including 24 in the first half, against New Haven.
In the two contests, Richmond was 26 of 42 overall, 9 of 18 from three and 16 of 17 at the foul line. He also handed out three assists in both games.
Sophomore guard Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO HS) and junior forward Chris Hudson (Hodgdon, Maine/Williston Northampton) are both giving the Falcons over 14 points a game with each shooting over 50 percent. Hudson averages 8.7 rebounds and leads the team at the defensive end with 22 steals and 17 blocks. Lawrence is second in all three categories with a 7.0 rebound average, 16 steals and 11 blocks.
As a team, Bentley is third in the conference in scoring (82.8) and in the top three in all the shooting accuracy categories.
Adelphi, number two in the conference in three-pointers per game (10.7), is led by senior guard Jack Laffey and current NE10 Rookie of the Week Robbie Silva. They are two of the conference's top three in triples with Laffey having knocked down an NE10-best 55 and Silva third with 48. They figure to be tested by a Bentley defense that has limited its opponents to a .320 accuracy mark from deep.
Six-foot-seven forward Nick Cambrio (10.6 ppg) is the team's third double-figure scorer and senior guard Conor McGuinness leads the NE10 in assists, averaging 6.8 a game.
In last year's OT win, Zach Gilpin (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) sank a three with 4.7 seconds left to give Bentley the victory. This season, he's shooting 43 percent from deep and is averaging 9.9 points. Richmond led all scorers with 27 points and seven helpers.
Bentley will also be on the road Saturday for a 3:30 game at Southern Connecticut State.