WALTHAM, Mass. – After seeing each  other twice during the postseason last March, the men's basketball teams from Bentley University and Stonehill College will meet for the first time this season on Saturday at Stonehill's Merkert Gymnasium (3:30 pm, www.stonehillskyhawks.tv).

Bentley will head down to Easton owning records of 4-5 overall and 2-4 Northeast-10 following a 77-76 loss to St. Michael's College on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Stonehill is 5-4 overall and 3-3 conference after upending previously unbeaten Southern New Hampshire, 81-68.

Last March, coach Jay Lawson's team punched its ticket for the NE10 championship game with an 89-84 semifinal win over the Skyhawks. The two were paired again in the first round of the NCAA East Regional ten days later and that one, played down in Philadelphia, went to Stonehill, 78-62, with the Skyhawks going on to capture the regional title and reach the Elite Eight.

Wednesday's loss to St. Michael's saw Bentley overcome an 11-point second-half deficit before a late 5-0 run accounted for the final lead change, putting the Purple Knights in front to stay.

The St. Michael's game saw the Falcons put together a 16-10 advantage in second-chance points and a 27-10 dominance in bench scoring with senior forward Tyler Gibson (Rockland/Rockland HS) a key contributor. He scored a career-best 14 points in 16 minutes and also had eight rebounds, six coming at the offensive end. Gibson leads the team in offensive rebounds while averaging 4.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 10.3 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./Thomson Collegiate) is tied for fourth in the NE10 in scoring at 19 a game and is Bentley's number two rebounder (6.0). He hasn't shot well in recent games but still has a respectable .460 accuracy mark for the season. Richmond, an 84 percent foul shooter, is one of the conference's best at getting to the line with 50 attempts through nine games.

Junior forward Brandon Wheeler (Stamford, Conn./Trinity Catholic HS) is next on the Bentley scoring list, averaging 10.8 after tying his season-high with 16 against St. Michael's. His .523 field goal percentage is a team-best, as is his 6.6 rebound average, and he's also second in steals with 10. Guards Ferguson Duke (Dartmouth, N.S./Hun School (N.J.)) and Matt Barr (Stratham, N.H./Cushing Academy) follow in scoring, averaging 9.1 and 9.0, respectively.

Stonehill, one of three NE10 teams with a field goal percentage over .500, features the trio of All-Conference senior Ryan Logan and junior guards Isaiah Bess and KJ Lee. The three combine for 42 points a game, a .544 field goal percentage and a .493 accuracy rate from three.

Logan averages 16.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 52 percent from the field.  Bess follows at 13.3 and Lee, a Marist transfer, has a 12.1 average in his first NE10 season. Freshmen Will Moreton and Daniel Largey have both been productive, each providing over nine points a game.

Stonehill will go into Saturday's game ranking first in the conference in three-point percentage (.429), second in field goal percentage (.506) and third in free throw shooting (.762). Turnovers have been an issue for the Skyhawks, who are 14th in that category, losing the ball 16.6 times a game.

Following Saturday, Bentley will be off until Dec. 19 when they'll play a non-conference game at American International.