WALTHAM, Mass. – Sophomore guard Jasper Grassa (Lynn/Lynn Classical HS) poured in a career-high 28 points and and junior forward Dan O'Keefe (Lexington/Lexington HS) matched his career-best with 19 points as Bentley University returned from a lengthy holiday and exam lay-off to shoot past Concordia College (N.Y.), 86-64, in non-conference men's basketball Friday night at the Dana Center.

Bentley, in its first action since Dec. 10, shot 65 percent from two-point land and buried 11 three-pointers while improving to 9-2 overall and completing a 4-0 month of December.  The Clippers, plagued by turnovers early, fell to 5-6 on the season.

Grassa, who bettered his previous career-high by one, followed up on a 10-point first half with 18 in the second. He made six of nine second-half shots, and finished the game 10 of 17 overall, including four of ten on threes. In addition, he chipped in with six assists and a couple steals.

O'Keefe made nine of 17 shots overall, and also provided five rebounds and two blocks. Freshman forward Andrew Shaw (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) provided 13 points in as many minutes off the bench, and senior guard Sam Leclerc (Fayette, Maine/Winthrop HS) just missed a triple double. He set career highs in rebounds (12) and assists (eight) while scoring nine points.

With the Clippers giving the ball away ten times in the first nine minutes, Bentley vaulted out to a 21-8 lead. Grassa scored seven of the Falcons' first 11 points and O'Keefe followed with six during the fast start.

A 9-0 run that began with two O'Keefe baskets and finished with a Grassa trey gave Bentley its biggest lead of the first half, 33-13 with 6:59 left.

However, by the break, Concordia was right back into the contest, having cut the lead to five (39-34) by outscoring the Falcons 15-2 over the final 4:10 before the break. Baskets from freshman guard Jason Alleyne (New Rochelle, N.Y.) started and finished the surge.

After Concordia drew even closer by scoring the first two points of the second half, Bentley gradually pulled away, using a 18-7 run to go up 15, 57-43. That spurt included three-balls launched by O'Keefe, Leclerc, Grassa and Shaw, as well as a traditional three-point play by Grassa.

Concordia made another charge, closing to within nine at 60-51 with 11:06 left. That was countered by three consecutive Falcon treys as junior guard Greg Jacques (Brockton/St. Sebastian's HS), Grassa and Leclerc connected from downtown to make it 69-51 with a little under eight minutes left.

Junior forward Argelix Gil (Brooklyn, N.Y.) powered Concordia with 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals, and sophomore guard Norman Pope (Washington, D.C.) followed with a dozen points. The Clippers were held to just 38 percent shooting and were just 8 of 17 from the foul line.

Bentley finished with eight more rebounds, 47-39, and had the advantage in points in the paint (40-24) and fast break points (21-9).

The Falcons begin the 2012 portion of the schedule and resume Northeast-10 Conference play Tuesday when they host Assumption at 7:30 pm.