WATHAM, Mass. – The home winning streak of the Bentley University men's basketball team hit 18 Saturday but not before the Falcons came from behind with a 9-0 run, including three free throws by graduate student Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) with 0.8 seconds to play, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center.

The 75-72 win over Adelphi University boosted Division II's 20^th-ranked team to 8-1 overall and 4-1 NE10. Bentley won its sixth consecutive game while Adelphi (3-7, 0-6 NE10) suffered its fourth straight defeat.

With the Falcons down 72-70 in the final minute, junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) came up with a diving steal to give his team the ball back with 33.4 seconds left. That led to two made free throws by junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) that tied the game at 72 with 23.2 on the clock.

Adelphi ran the clock down before freshman forward Elijah Lewis (Watchung, N.J.) missed a jumper with six seconds left. Senior guard Kellen Bochenek (Kettering, Ohio/Fairview HS) got the rebound and Wright-Kinsey was fouled from behind while launching a 40-footer just before the buzzer. He went to the line, calmly knocked down the first to give Bentley its first lead since about the 15 minute mark of the second, and added two more to account for the final score.

The Panthers had one more possession, but only inbounded to the backcourt and never got a shot off before the horn sounded.

Down 72-66 after a lay-up by Adelphi freshman wing Mason Jackson (Baltic, Conn.) with about three minutes left, Bentley's closing burst began with a jumper in the paint by Laput with 2:41 to play. It stayed that way for nearly two minutes until Laput converted two from the line with 47.1 on the clock.

 Bentley got off to a strong start, building a 23-10 advantage midway through the first half. Senior forward Isaac Martin (Atlanta, Ga./Norcross HS) sank two of his four three-pointers during that stretch and graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) added six points.

The Falcons led 39-24 with about two minutes remaining until the break after an 8-2 run that included a Martin three and an old-fashioned three-point play by graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS).

Adelphi scored the game's next 12 points, evenly split between the first and second halves, and went up five, 49-44, when freshman Kunga Tsering (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.) drilled a three with 13:09 to play. All told, that was a 25-5 blitzing over a span of nine minutes.

The Adelphi lead peaked at eight before Martin's fourth trey in as many attempts made it a two-point game, 65-63, with 5:52 remaining.

Laput, the NE10 scoring leader, paced the five Falcons in double-figures with 18 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wright-Kinsey followed with 13 points and nine rebounds, and Martin matched that point total in 21:48 off the bench.

Latham finished with 11 and Leritz totaled ten points and eight rebounds.

For the Panthers, Lewis had a game-high 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting.

Adelphi had the higher field goal percentage (.484-.431) and committed only seven turnovers. But Bentley's superiority at the line (19-6 in makes, 24-6 in attempts) and rebounds (43-27) played key roles.

The next game for the Falcons is Friday night at the University of Bridgeport.