WALTHAM, Mass. – When the Bentley University men's basketball team hosts the University of the Sciences Friday night in its first game in 623 days, it will have a familiar look to the team that last took the court for the Falcons. Tip-off is set for 8 pm and the game can be viewed on NE10 NOW.

The five projected starters for veteran coach Jay Lawson all have at least one year of starting experience and combined, they have exactly 200 career starts under their belts. Lawson expects to go with guards Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon/Thayer Academy), Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS), Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa./Elco HS) and Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./ Brooks School) along with forward Pete Blust (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale HS).

Blust, Mello-Klein and Lawrence are all graduate students while the other two are seniors. Collectively, their career totals include 2,454 points, 1,202 rebounds and 544 assists.

Mello-Klein, entering his fourth year as a starter, filled the stat sheet with 12 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists during the 19-9 2019-20 season. He shot 46 percent from deep , recorded 43 steals and was only the second Falcon to ever average at least 12, 5 and 5.

Webb was the Falcons' top scorer on that team, averaging 15.3 points, and is a career 40 percent shooter from three. Wright-Kinsey's scoring average was just a shade shy of double figures and Blust's season included 7.7 points and 5.3 rebounds a game, as well as a .541 field goal percentage.

Lawrence, who missed that season, will be making his first appearance in nearly 1,000 days. He averaged 15 points and 6.8 rebounds as a sophomore when he was one of only three Northeast-10 players to amass both 65 three-pointers and 190 rebounds.

Among those Lawson will call upon for depth are juniors Isaac Martin (Peachtree Gardens, Ga./Norcross HS) and Kellen Bochenek (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont HS), 6-8 grad student Adria Amabilino Perez (Barcelona, Spain) and sophomores Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS), Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) and Ivan Misic (Toronto, Ont.).

Amabilino Perez (4.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg in 2019-20) and Martin (3.5 ppg as a freshman) are the most experienced of the group.

USciences, which like Bentley was scheduled to open its season in the cancelled Daemen East Region Challenge, was 6-20 when it last played two years ago. The Devils were forecast to finish seventh in the CACC South Division preseason coaches poll and have a young team with only five of the 15 players owning previous collegiate experience.

The most experienced of the Devils is senior guard Sean Simon, who buried 65 three-pointers two years who while producing 11.7 points per game. Graduate guard Austin Kennedy will be making his USciences debut after averaging 6.1 points for LIU Post three years ago.

After the non-conference opener, Bentley will open its NE10 schedule Wednesday at Saint Anselm in a match-up of the two teams who topped the conference's Northeast Division coaches poll. The Hawks were tabbed for the top spot and the Falcons followed in second.