RINDGE, N.H. – The Franklin Pierce University Ravens vaulted out of the gate to hit 11 of their first 15 shots and went on to record an 84-65 win over Bentley University, the top-ranked team in the East Region, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball at the FPU Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon.

The loss in the penultimate game of the regular season dropped Bentley to 18-4 and reduced their lead in the conference's Northeast Division to one game over Franklin Pierce. To clinch the division title outright, the Falcons will either have to beat Saint Anselm at home Tuesday or have the Ravens lose to Assumption.

Franklin Pierce, which completed a season sweep of the series, improved to 15-8 overall and 12-6 NE10. The Ravens have been outstanding at home this winter, with nine wins in ten games.

Junior guard Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, Md.) led the Franklin Pierce offense, scoring 28 points on 13 of 24 shooting and also delivering five assists. He had 18 in the first half and nine in the first eight minutes as the Ravens took a 29-16 lead.

Junior forward Maxwell Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) was also instrumental in the fast start with a three-point play to open the scoring and a pair of three-balls to push the differential to 13.

After trailing by as many as 14, Bentley embarked on a 13-2 run to pull within three late in the first. Five different players scored the ball, including senior guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) with four off the bench.

Following a three by Falcon sophomore guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) that made it 51-47 with 16:48 to play, Franklin Pierce scored seven unanswered and Bentley never got closer than eight again.

Franklin Pierce opened the game up in the final six minutes, closing with a 15-4 run while holding Division II's 17^th-ranked team to one basket in its final 11 shots.

Laput and graduate guard Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO HS) led Bentley in scoring, each with 15 on 6-of-12 shooting, and graduate guard Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon, Mass./Thayer Academy) finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Wright-Kinsey contributed nine points and seven boards off the bench.

Franklin Pierce also received 13 points from freshman Mohamed Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.) and 10 rebounders from freshman forward Sean Trumber (Ashford, United Kingdom).

The Ravens shot 53 percent, made 9 of 19 three-pointers and only turned the ball over seven times.

Bentley finished with a .385 field goal percentage and turned it over 13 times, leading to 11 Raven points. Franklin Pierce more than doubled the Falcons in the paint, 42-20.

Tuesday's regular season finale against Saint Anselm is set for 7:30 pm.