NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) scored 22 points and graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) followed with 20 as Bentley University, the 14th-ranked team in Division II, edged Southern Connecticut State University, 72-67, Saturday afternoon at the Moore Fieldhouse. The high-scoring duo combined to make 16 of 24 shot attempts.

Bentley, which leads the conference by a game over Saint Anselm, improved to 17-2 overall and 12-2 NE10 with its ninth win in ten road games. Southern Connecticut, which had been 7-1 on its home court, dropped to 13-8 overall and 8-5 conference.

Down 11-10 six-and-a-half minutes into the game, Bentley opened a 10-point lead, 29-19, with a 19-8 run. Laput had eight during that stretch and Leritz five points.

It was a one-point difference at the half with the Falcons up one, 32-31, after the Owls closed with a 12-3 run over the final 4:40.

Following a couple lead changes in the first five minutes of the second half, Bentley junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) drained a long three with 14:21 left to break a 39-all tie and put his team in front for the rest of the way.

The advantage grew to nine, 61-52, with 5:25 remaining following a 6-0 run that included four points by Leritz and an inside basket by Laput.  After the Owls got back within four, another Falcon run of six straight matched the biggest lead of the game for the visitors, 69-59, with 2:16 left.

Southern answered with eight straight points, including a trey from sophomore guard Marty Silvera (Worcester, Mass.), and it was a two-point game with 65 seconds to play. A lay-up by Laput was goaltended, making it a two-possession game, and the Owls missed three shots the rest of the way.

Laput, the NE10 scoring leader, made eight of 13 shots and also had four assists and two                steals. Leritz' 8-of-11 included two three-pointers and he also had five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Latham, who played all 40 minutes, scored 12 of his 14 in the second half. Graduate guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) was the game's top rebounder with ten and he also made two steals.

For Southern, sophomore guard Sean James (West Hartford, Conn.) buried seven three-pointers during a 27-point performance and Silver had six steals in addition to 11 points and six assists.

Bentley outshot Southern 56-39 percent overall, including 67-40 in the second half, and dominated the paint, 38-20. Most of the other stats favored the Owls, including three-pointers (9-7), free throws (14-11), rebounds (29-27) and turnovers (11-13).

Next up for the Falcons is a Wednesday night home game against Southern New Hampshire, which has won eight of its last nine.