WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's basketball team, off to a 5-1 start, will be looking for its fourth consecutive win Saturday when the Falcons play host to Southern Connecticut State at the Dana Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 pm with a webcast available on the NE10 NOW digital network.

Fans are encouraged to bring new unwrapped non-violent toys, suitable for ages 1-16, for the Toy Drive that Bentley athletics is having in conjunction with University Police.

Bentley, unbeaten in its last 16 home games after sweeping Dominican and Post by an average of 20 points last weekend, returned to the NABC Division II top 25 this week at number 22 and moved up five places to 14^th in the D2SIDA media poll.

Southern Connecticut owns records of 3-3 overall and 1-1 Northeast-10 after winning its last two games, 83-60 at Molloy and 59-52 at home against Pace University.

It's been a strong start to the season for coach Jay Lawson's Falcons, who lead Division II in rebound margin, are fourth in both three-point accuracy and free throw percentage and are shooting .511 overall. The 89.2 scoring average is the best in the conference, as is the 19.8 scoring margin.

All five starters average at least 11 points and two assists a game with junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) at the top of the list. He's shooting 61 percent overall, 43 percent from deep and 86 percent at the line with his 22.8 scoring average just outside of Division II's top 10.

Graduate transfer Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) is averaging a double-double, 14.7 points and 10 rebounds. His .617 field goal percentage includes eight three-pointers in 12 attempts.

Junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS), a 48 percent shooter from three, puts up 13.2 points a game, and graduate guards Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) and Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) complete the list. Webb had a season-high 18 Sunday against Pace and is 17-of-17 at the line. Wright-Kinsey, with 20 assists and only four turns, is sixth in Division II in assist-turnover ratio.

Southern is led by senior guard Ulyen Coleman, who is scoring in doubles for the fourth consecutive season and recently netted his 1,000^th. His 14.2 average is down slightly from the 14.5 he recorded back in 2018-19.

Also in doubles for coach Scott Burrell's Owls are St. Peter's transfer Marty Silvera and six-five sophomore Kazell Stewart. Silvera averages 11 points and Stewart (10.7 ppg off the bench) has a .643 field goal percentage.

The Owls average 66.5 points, one more than they allow on average.

Bentley extended its lead in the all-time series to 27-12 after winning the last two meetings, 84-65 in 2020 and 70-62 last year. Last year's game saw both Wright-Kinsey and Colton Lawrence, now at UMBC, score 17 points for the Falcons. Bentley, which outrebounded the Owls by 19, closed with a 13-5 run that saw of the Falcons' points come at the charity stripe.

This coming week's schedule has Bentley playing at Pace Tuesday and hosting Adelphi next Saturday.