WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) scored 23 points and grabbed a season-best 11 rebounds as Bentley University improved to 9-2 with a 76-56 win over St. Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Wednesday night at the Dana Center.

Bentley, the first NE10 team with nine wins, pulled away down the stretch. After the Purple Knights (4-7, 0-4 NE10) closed to within five, the Falcons outscored the visiting Purple Knights 20-5 over the final six minutes to win going away.

The closing burst included eight from Webb and six points from graduate forward Pete Blust (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale HS). Blust got it started with a lay-up and graduate guard Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon/Thayer Academy) followed with two free throws to make it 60-51.

After a St. Michael's basket, Webb scored off an inbound pass from Mello-Klein and followed with his third and fourth three-pointers of the night, pushing the advantage to 70-53. The run also included two more baskets from Blust, a lay-up and a mid-range jumper.

Webb's first trey of the game, with 17:58 on the first-half clock, put Bentley up 5-3 and gave the Falcons a lead it would never relinquish.

Bentley led in the first half by as many as ten, 27-17 with 7:49 remaining, and took a 35-31 lead into the break after St. Michael's used three triples in the final 3:40 to close the gap.

The Falcons' second-half lead hit 10 or 11 points three times before a pair of St. Michael's three-balls, the first from freshman forward Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va.) and the second by classmate Nahshon Battle (Scotch Plains, N.J.), made it a five-point game, 56-51, with 6:30 to play.

Webb. 9 of 14 overall and 4 of 5 from outside the arc, was followed on the Bentley scoring list by senior guard Isaac Martin (Peachtree Gardens, Ga./Norcross HS), who had 16 points and six rebounds in his first career start. Blust, perfect on six shots from the field, followed with 13 points, eight rebounds and six blocks. Mello-Klein, who moved within ten points of 1,000 for his career, flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Freshman guard C.C. Crews (Tampa, Fla.) was the top scorer for St. Michael's with 13 points, one more than Battle.

Rebounds were a key to the Falcons' success in both halves. They finished with a 48-25 advantage, including 28-17 in the first half, and turned 18 offensive rebounds into a 23-6 dominance in second-chance points.

Bentley made 13 of 22 shots in the second half and finished with a 44-37 advantage in field goal percentage. Free throws also favored the home team with the Falcons 14 of 19 and St. Michael's just two of four from the stripe.

Bentley, 4-2 in the conference, will play at Southern Connecticut State Saturday afternoon.