MANCHESTER, N.H. – Held scoreless over the final 1:50 after cutting an eight-point deficit to one, the third-seeded Bentley University Falcons came up just short, falling to second-seeded Saint Anselm College 71-70 in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Championships Wednesday night at Stoutenburgh Gym.

It was a matchup of the top two teams in this week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings with Bentley entering the game number one and Saint Anselm two. The Hawks (21-6) will take on New Haven at home in Saturday's championship game while the 21-6 Falcons will await Sunday night's NCAA Selection Show to find out when and where they will play next.

Junior guard and conference Player of the Year Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) led Bentley with 21 points, including the 1,000^th of his career, and graduate guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) followed with a season-high 19.

Saint Anselm junior guard Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) dropped in five three-pointers during a career-best 32-point performance and senior guard Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.) followed with 25, including 20 in the first half.

Bentley, down 71-63 with 4:40 on the clock after a 10-2 Saint Anselm run, began its comeback with an inside basket from graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS). About 80 seconds later, Laput drained a straightaway three with 2:45 to play, making it a  three-point game. That elevated Laput over 1,000, making him the 57^th player in program history to reach that plateau.

Wright-Kinsey rebounded a Laput miss and scored with 1:58 remaining. He was fouled on the play but was unable to complete the three-point play.

The Falcon defense did its job on Saint Anselm and Wright-Kinsey came up with two rebounds. However, Bentley was unable to take advantage, with a missed lay-up and a turnover on its next two possessions.

Saint Anselm senior guard Miles Tention (Palo Alto, Calif.) was fouled but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 5.5 seconds. The ball went out of bounds to the Falcons with :03.8, but an inbound violation was committed and Saint Anselm got the ball back.

This time, Becker missed the front end and graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) got the rebound. His heave from the backcourt came up well short and Saint Anselm escaped with the win despite being scoreless on its final nine possessions.

It was a streaky game throughout with each team having a couple significant runs. Bentley had first-half bursts of 13-3 (to start the game) and 7-0 to build a 37-24 lead with 5:18 left in regulation.

The Falcons were up 42-37 at the break after Saint Anselm scored nine of the last ten points of the half.

That run grew to 18-1 and the Hawks took a 46-42 lead after the home team scored the first nine of the second. Included were seven by Becker on two three-pointers and a free throw.

Bentley countered with a 15-4 run to go back in front, 57-50. But the Falcons made only two baskets over the next five-plus minutes and Saint Anselm regained control, 69-61.

Laput missed only three shots during his 21-point night, making eight of 11 with three treys. Wright-Kinsey, 8 of 14 from the floor, complemented his 19 points with seven boards.

Bentley also received 14 points and 11 rebounds from Leritz and ten points from Webb.

 Becker and Arbuckle combined for nine three-pointers and 57 of Saint Anselm's 71 points.

Bentley shot better overall, 48-40 percent, and had a 40-24 advantage in paint points, but was just six of 22 from deep. Meanwhile, Saint Anselm connected 11 times, in 36 attempts, from downtown.

Both teams attempted 11 free throws, but Saint Anselm had the edge in makes, 8-6.