WALTHAM, Mass. – Sixteen days after last playing, the Bentley University men's basketball team will resume its season Wednesday with a Northeast-10 Conference home game against St. Michael's College. The revised starting time is 6 pm, and the game can be viewed on the NE10 NOW digital network.

Coach Jay Lawson's team finished the 2021 portion of the schedule at 8-2 overall with the Falcons (3-2 conference) tied for second in the NE10's Northeast Division.

They'll be taking on a St. Michael's team that also has not played since Dec. 20. The Purple Knights, 4-6 overall, are winless in three conference games and 0-5 on the road thus far this season.

Bentley, in its final game before the holiday break, went out to American International College and returned with an 82-72 non-conference victory. Sophomore guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./ Notre Dame HS) led the Falcons in scoring with 19 points and grad students Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon/Thayer Academy) and Pete Blust (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale HS) each had double-doubles.

Mello-Klein, fourth in the conference in both rebounds and assists, leads the Falcons with a 16.5 scoring average after putting up at least 15 in seven straight games. He'll enter Wednesday's game 20 points away from becoming the 55^th 1,000-point scorer in program history.

Senior guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness GS) and Laput have also been offensive weapons for the Falcons with both putting up over 15 points a game. Webb has made multiple threes in eight straight games, and Laput, twice the NE10 Rookie of the Week, has totaled 62 points in his last three contests. He's had an excellent shooting season, at 57 percent overall, 50 percent from deep and 89 percent at the line.

Blust, the only player in the conference averaging at least two blocks and one steal, has a 6.2 scoring average and a .625 field goal percentage.

As a team, Bentley leads the conference in scoring (87.6) as well the NE10's best field goal percentage (.481), three-point average (11.6) and three-point accuracy (.416). The Falcons are also first in the conference in rebound margin at 9.7.

St. Michael's, which averages 75.6 points and allows 77.1, is led by six-foot-ten senior Patrick Gardner. He's the number five scorer in the conference, averaging 18.7 points as well as 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. He's scored 22 or more three times, including 33 in a non-conference win over Concord.

The other double figure scorer for the Purple Knights is junior Kasai Brown, with averages of 12.6 points and 6.7 rebounds. Freshman Jacob Duniver is the top threat from deep with 17 triples in 33 attempts.

After facing St. Michael's, Bentley will turn its attention to a Saturday game at Southern Connecticut State.