WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's basketball team will look to build on its lead in the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division standings when it hosts Southern New Hampshire University Saturday at 3:30 pm. Fans who can't make it to the game can watch it live on the NE10 NOW digital network.

With the regular season down to its final week-and-a-half, Bentley leads Franklin Pierce by two games in the loss column and Saint Anselm by three games. Both of those teams are among the four remaining games on the Falcon schedule.

Coach Jay Lawson's team, which is ranked 21^st in the latest NABC Division II coaches poll, is 16-3 overall and 11-3 NE10 after winning 10 of its last 11 and 14 of 16. Both losses since Dec. 1 have been by a single point.

Southern New Hampshire, coached by former Bentley captain and assistant coach Jack Perri, is in fourth place and will come into the Dana at 12-8 overall and 8-7 conference. The Penmen had won six of seven before being shut down by New Haven on Thursday, 70-48.

Bentley is coming off a 70-62 win at Southern Connecticut State Tuesday, a game in which both senior guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) and graduate guard Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO HS) scored 17 points. The Falcons dominated the boards, 57-38, with all five starters grabbing at least seven. Sophomore guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) led the way with 14 while recording his third double-double in the last four games.

Lawrence leads the team in scoring, averaging 17.3 points while shooting .561 overall and .526 from three. Laput follows, at 15.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. Senior guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Oklahoma City HS), who made six key free throws down the stretch at Southern, is third on the scoring list at 15.1.

Graduate guard Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon/Thayer Academy), who missed the Southern game, is having an outstanding season with his production line including 14.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.2 steals. The 1,000-point scorer rarely comes out of the game, averaging 38 minutes.

Bentley continues to lead the conference in scoring (83.6), scoring margin (10.3), field goal percentage (.476), three-point accuracy (.394), rebound margin (+8.7) and assists (16.7).

Perri's Penmen are led by sophomore guard and Mount St. Mary's transfer Matt Becht, who averages 16.1 points and 70 three-pointers. Sophomore guard Jacari Sanders, who hasn't played since Jan. 18, has produced 14.6 points a game in eight appearances.

Six-foot seven Aaron Gray is one of the conference's premier freshman, with averages of 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds.

SNHU averages 76.8 points and allows 72.9 a game. Fourth in the conference in scoring, the Penmen are second in defending the three and third in opponents field goal percentage.

The Falcons and Penmen met in a non-conference game at the Dana Center on Nov. 28 with Bentley prevailing 94-79. Mello-Klein was outstanding with 26 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and six three-pointers. It was a wire-to-wire victory for Bentley, which had a total of five players score in doubles.

They also faced off Dec. 7 in Manchester with Bentley taking that one by the count of 75-68. Mello-Klein was impressive in that one as well, with 20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four three-pointers.

It's been an even series since 2011 with each team having won 11 times.

Next week's schedule has two road games, at Assumption Wednesday and at Franklin Pierce Sunday.