WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) scored a game-high 22 points, junior guard Ferguson Duke (Dartmouth, N.S./Hun School (N.J.)) followed with 16 and sophomore forward Brandon Wheeler (Stamford, Conn./Trinity Catholic HS) put up a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double as the  Bentley University men's basketball team shot to a season-opening 102-76 win over Concordia College (N.Y.) in the Bentley Tip-Off Classic Friday night at the Dana Center.

The Falcons made nine of their first ten shots and finished with a .655 field goal percentage, the team's best in nearly five years.

Bentley had a total of six players score in doubles and incredibly, four of the six didn't miss a shot from the floor. Duke was five-for-five, Wheeler hit all four of his, freshman forward Kyle Bouchard (Houlton, Maine/Houlton HS) scored 13 on 4-of-4 shooting and junior guard Matt Barr (Stratham, N.H./ Cushing Academy) added 10 on 3-of-3 shooting. Wheeler's career-best 11 rebounds included ten in 12 first-half minutes.

The Falcons, who grabbed an opening-night win for the fifth consecutive year, started fast (11-2 over the first 2:40) and never let up. Grad student Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland HS) scored the game's first five and senior guard Alex Furness (Wells, Maine/Wells HS) had four of his 12 during the fast start.

An 8-0 burst, with Duke providing half the points, pushed it to 28-9 less than 11 minutes into the contest. That 19 point spread matched Bentley's lead at intermission, 49-30 on 64 percent shooting.

The Falcon advantage hit 29 three times in the first 5:05 of the second, the first on a McFarland lay-up with 16:55 left.

McFarland, who was 9-of-14 from the floor, had a busy night climbing the program's all-time scoring list, moving ahead of Nate Fritsch '08, Kevin Bower '80 and Jamie Baker '99 into 15th all-time with 1,462 points (only two shy of Mark Argust '01).

After the Clippers got within 15 with 8:50 left, Bentley put the game away with nine unanswered. Bouchard got it going with a lay-up, McFarland threw down a dunk, Barr hit a lay-up and Bouchard buried his first career triple.

Bentley's starting five finished 27 of 38 from the floor, including a sizzling 15 of 18 in the first half. The bench, which outscored the Clipper reserves 30-20, also had the hot hand, making 11 of 20 shots.

Concordia, which shot 40 percent for the night, received 19 points from junior guard Andrew Peacock (Washington, D.C.) and 17 from six-foot-seven junior Rome Jenkins (Deer Park, N.Y.).

Bentley controlled the boards, 40-30, but forced only eight turnovers. Despite giving the ball up 13 times, the Falcons had the edge in points off, 13-9.

In the first game of the tournament, senior guard Troy Hammel led six double-figure scorers with 21 points to power Merrimack College to a 91-69 win over Caldwell College.

The tournament continues Saturday evening with Bentley facing Caldwell at 8 pm and Merrimack taking Concordia in the 6 pm opener.