WALTHAM, Mass. – On a day that both achieved career milestones, junior QB Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS) threw for 346 yards and three TDs, including two to senior receiver Drew Mahoney (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield Academy), as the Bentley University Falcons celebrated Homecoming with a wild 41-35 victory over Saint Anselm College Saturday afternoon on the Bentley Football Field.

Sturm eclipsed 5,000 yards in total offense, becoming the fifth player in program history to do so, while Mahoney surpassed both 200 receptions and 2,000 receiving yards for his career, becoming the fourth Falcon to reach both marks. The Division II national leader in receptions per game finished with 11 catches for 131 yards, with his touchdowns covering 69 and 10 yards.

With its third straight victory, Bentley evened its overall record at 4-4 and improved to 4-2 in the Northeast-10 Conference, good for a four-way tie for second place. Saint Anselm (3-6, 3-3) saw its winning streak halted at three.

It was all Bentley over the first 18-plus minutes as coach Bill Kavanaugh's squad jumped out to a 27-7 lead. The scoring began with a pair of field goals, 33 and 21 yards, by senior Grant Buchanan (Holliston/Holliston HS) with a fumble recovery by sophomore defensive lineman Cedric Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS) at the Hawk six sandwiched in between. Buchanan became the seventh player in program history, and second kicker, to surpass 200 career points and finished the game with 209.

Mahoney's one-handed catch and run for a 69-yard TD with 4:39 to play in the first made it 13-0 Falcons.

In the second, Bentley scored 14 points in 19 seconds to push a 13-7 lead to 27-7. Mahoney caught a 10-yard scoring pass on a third-and-eight, capping an 11-play, 74-yard drive. On the Hawks' first play after the kickoff, a 20-yard pick-six from Falcon junior linebacker Marc Doran (Ramsey, N.J./ Saint John Regional HS) extended the Bentley lead to 20.

Following two Saint Anselm touchdowns, the second and third of the half from senior QB Eric Fairweather (Londonderry, N.H.), Sturm threw his third TD of the game. This one was an 84-yarder to junior Austin Ryan (Foxborough/Foxborough HS) and it resulted in Bentley taking a 34-21 lead into intermission.

Bentley restored its lead to 20 with 3:42 remaining in the third when freshman Nathaniel Larkins (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn HS) scored his first career touchdown on a 33 yard run.

Saint Anselm got back into the game with two touchdowns in the first 7:05 of the fourth stanza. Following a Falcon interception, Fairweather teamed up with senior Shawn Donovan (Abington) for a 16-yard TD pass on a fourth-and-eight play. Later in the quarter, sophomore Chance Clancy (High Point, N.C.) blocked a field goal and freshman Ryan Raybuck (Flower Mound, Texas) returned it 69 yards for a TD, making it a six-point game with about half the fourth remaining.

The Bentley offense ate up most of the remaining time and the defense forced a three-and-out in between the two Falcon possessions.

Sturm finished 24 of 33, distributing the ball to seven different players, and was picked off three times. Ryan (3 for 118) also surpassed 100 receiving yards while the ground game included 72 yards on 18 carries from senior Jordan Artope (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson HS) and 71 on eight from Larkins.

Fairweather was 16 of 32 for 202 through the air and he scored three times on the ground, despite 13 carries for minus-25 yards.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Manny Resto (Avenel, Fla./St. Joseph HS) was impressive with eight tackles and three sacks for Bentley. Dashiell finished with seven tackles, two for losses, a sack and the fumble recovery.

Bentley gained a season-high 509 yards, limited the visitors to 270 and controlled the ball for 36:57. Kavanaugh's team had nearly twice as many first downs, 25-13, and a total of four sacks.

The Falcons play at Franklin Pierce Saturday and finish the season at home against American International on Nov. 16.