Kollie, a Lafayette College transfer playing his first game in a Bentley uniform, previously gave the Falcons a 10-7 lead with an 18-yard pass reception from senior quarterback Danny Guadagnoli (Framingham/Framingham HS) midway through the second period.

Overall, Kollie amassed 130 yards of all-purpose running with 48 rushing yards on nine carries, four receptions for 18 and three kickoff returns for 46.

Defensively, the Falcons featured senior Kyle Young (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial HS), with a career-best 14 tackles, including one for a loss.

Kollie's second TD capped an eight-play, 72-yard drive that featured three Guadagnoli rushes for 28 yards, including an eight-yarder to the six, setting up the score. The five-foot-six, 160-yarder went up the middle to reach the end zone for the tying score. It appeared Bland's extra point attempt was deflected, but it still managed to split the uprights to put the Falcons in front.

Mercyhust had three more possessions after falling behind by one. They moved 33 yards to the Bentley 47 before having to punt early in the fourth, advanced 27 yards to the Falcon 40 before another punt with about six minutes left, and were denied on a fourth-and-two from their own 39 with 34 seconds remaining.

The visiting Lakers jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession of 2013, with a six-yard TD pass from senior Anthony Vendemia (Murrysville, Pa.) to senior fullback Jeff Groene (Cincinnati, Ohio) capping a seven-play, 52-yard drive.

Bentley moved the ball on the ensuing possession but came up short when Baron's first career field goal attempt, a 39-yarder, fell short.

Baron bounced back the next time his team had the ball, connecting on a 27-yard field goal after the Falcon drive was stopped at the Mercyhurst 9.

Bentley grabbed its first lead of the year on its following possession with Guadagnoli completing seven of seven passes for 66 yards. The final aerial of the drive found a wide-open Kollie in the end zone, the TD pass the 17th of his career.

The lead stood up at 10-7 until sophomore Brandon Brown-Dukes (Orlando, Fla.) finished a grueling 17-play, 82-yard drive with a three-yard run with just 4.2 seconds left on the first clock. Mercyhurst controlled the ball for 5:57 on that drive and opened the second-half with another drive that ate 5:57 off the clock. Freshman Jordan Spangler (Johnstown, Pa.) finished it with a 31-yard field goal, giving the Lakers a 16-10 lead.

By the time Bentley touched the ball for the first time in the second half with 8:56 on the clock, the Falcon offense had been off the field for more than 12 minutes of game time, as well as the halftime break.

Mercyhurst had the statistical edge in most categories, including 22-19 first downs, 379-299 total offense, 72-54 in total plays and 32:34-27:26 in possession time. The Lakers also had the game's only takeaway, a third-quarter interception of Guadagnoli.

Guadagnoli finished 20 of 28 for 162 yards, with both junior Jeff Hill (Mansfield/Mansfield HS) and sophomore Chris Calvanese (Norfolk/Xaverian Bros. HS) catching five balls, with the latter leading the Falcons in receiving yards with 52. Guadagnoli also scrambled for 48 yards on eight carries.

In addition to the 14 tackles by Young, Bentley received nine stops from senior linebacker Taylor Tavarozzi (Berlin, Conn./Berlin HS) and eight from classmate Blaine Hopwood (New Bedford/New Bedford HS).  

Vendemia completed 20 of 34 passes for 207 yards for Mercyhurst, and Brown-Dukes led the Laker rushing attack with 77 yards on 16 carries.

Bentley will be back at home next Friday night for a Northeast-10 Conference encounter with Assumption College.