WALTHAM, Mass. – Junior guard Jasper Grassa (Lynn/Lynn Classical HS) scored eight of his team-high 19 points during a game-ending 16-8 run and freshman forward Shakir Phelps (Linden, N.J./ Linden HS), with a career-high 12 points, led a strong effort from the bench as Bentley University won its second straight to even its record at 7-7, 65-57 over American International College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Tuesday night at the Dana Center.

Bentley dominated the boards, 43-23, and had a 14-2 edge in free throws made as it reached .500 in the conference (5-5) and notched its 19th consecutive win in the series. AIC fell to 5-9 overall and 2-8 in the NE-10 despite connecting on 11 three-pointers.

Key to the victory was a first-half run of 17 straight points that produced a 29-11 lead with 6:19 left until intermission. Just as he did in the closing burst, Grassa played a major role, with two treys and a total of eight points during the spurt.

The lead was down to six by the break, 33-27, after AIC connected four times from three-point land during a 16-4 closing run.

The two teams traded baskets for most of the first 12 minutes of the second, with the Bentley lead remaining between three and seven points until the Yellow Jackets scored five in a row to even the tally at 49 apiece, with seven minutes left.

Grassa put the Falcons back in front by nailing a three from the left wing with 6:49 to play, and it remained that way for a couple minutes until Falcon freshman forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) hit a lay-up to make it 54-49.

Following an AIC basket, Grassa connected on his fifth triple of the game, this one from the right wing to make it 57-51 with 3:56 to play. After more than two scoreless minutes, McFarland hit two free throws to make it an eight-point lead with 1:31 left. The Falcons locked up the win by sinking six of six from the line in the final minute, the last two by Grassa to make it an 11-point game with 16.4 seconds left.

Grassa made five of nine from downtown and also filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Phelps, celebrating his 19th birthday, had his best game as a collegian while playing 27 minutes off the bench. He was three of five from the field, with a three-pointer, and took twice as many free throws as AIC, knocking down five of six. He also amassed six rebounds, a steal and an assist.

McFarland just missed his fifth double-double of the year, finishing with 10 rebounds and nine points, and sophomore guard JP Koury (Red Bank, N.J./CBA) gave the Falcons a career-best seven assists.

AIC was led by the backcourt of senior Ricky Hudson (Sewell, N.J.) and junior Janek Schmidkunz (Berlin, Germany), who netted 19 and 16 points, respectively.

Bentley outshot the Jackets 42-40 percent and received 23 points from the bench while giving up only two. The Falcon reserves made half of their 16 shots while AIC's non-starters were zero for six in 51 minutes.

Bentley will look to make it three in a row on Saturday when it visits the College of Saint Rose.