GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – A pair of five-foot-nine guards, senior Conor McGuinness (New City, N.Y.) and freshman Ronnie Silva (Nashua, N.H.), combined for 44 points on 60 percent shooting to lead Adelphi University to a 92-82 win over Bentley University, the 24th-ranked team in Division II, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Wednesday night at the Center for Recreation and Sport.

McGuiness finished with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Silva sank eight of 14 shots on his way to 20 points. The two also combined for seven three-pointers (four by Silva) and 11 assists (6 by McGuiness).

Bentley's second straight loss dropped the Falcons to 15-4 overall and 8-4 NE10. Adelphi, which shot 59 percent for the game and 64 percent in the second half, improved to 12-7 overall and 6-5 conference.

Silva scored five during an early 7-0 run that broke a 7-7 tie and put the Panthers in front to stay. After the Falcons answered with five straight to pull within one, McGuinness buried a triple from the right wing and a foul-line jumper to restore the seven-point advantage.

Bentley closed within three multiple times before a pair of lay-ups from senior forward Nick Cambio (Tewksbury, Mass.) sent Adelphi into halftime up seven, 41-34.

A 12-8 Adelphi run to start the second half, one that included five points from McGuinness, produced the game's first double-figure lead at 53-42.

Bentley, after trailing by as many as 14, got back in the contest on the strength of a 13-2 run. That burst, which included a traditional three-point play and a trey from the right wing by sophomore guard Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon, Mass./Thayer Academy), made it a one-possession game, 63-60 with 11:17 remaining.

The Panthers countered with seven straight and Bentley never got closer than eight the rest of the way. Adelphi put the game away with 11 unanswered, a run that included both Silva and McGuinness connecting from downtown. That made it a 19-point differential, 88-69, with 4:46 to go.

In addition to the contributions of Silva and McGuinness, Adelphi received 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench from Cambio.

Junior forward Chris Hudson (Hodgdon, Maine/Williston Northampton) led Bentley with 19 points and eight rebounds. Mello-Klein followed with a career-best 18 and both senior guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./Thomson Collegiate) and sophomore guard Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO HS) had 16.

Richmond, the reigning NE10 Player of the Week, scored seven below his season norm on an uncharacteristic 6-of-16 shooting, but helped with nine rebounds and three assists.

Bentley shot .435 for the game, including .485 in the second half, and made a dozen three-balls in 29 attempts. The Falcons also had the rebounding edge, 35-31, and two more free throws, 10-8.

Bentley will look to bounce back Saturday with a 3:30 pm game at Southern Connecticut State.