WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's basketball team will be looking to get back on track and complete a sweep of the season series when the Falcons take on Assumption College Saturday afternoon at the Hounds' Laska Gymnasium. Scheduled time is 3 pm with a free webcast available at www.assumptiongreyhounds.tv.

The Falcons, 9-11 overall and 6-9 Northeast-10, will be attempting to halt a three-game slide and get back in the conference playoff picture. Following Wednesday's 108-101 overtime loss to Stonehill, Bentley is in sixth place in the NE10's Northeast Division, a game back of both Stonehill and Franklin Pierce who are tied for fourth. Six games remain in the regular season and the top five from the Northeast qualify.

If the conference championship began today, Assumption would also be on the outside looking in. The Greyhounds face a tougher challenge to qualify than the Falcons as they are three games  out, with records of 6-16 overall and 4-11 NE10.

Bentley came up just short against Stonehill despite its best field goal percentage in a conference game this season (.528), 14 three-pointers and a near-historic performance from sophomore guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./Thomson Collegiate). The Skyhawks hit a game-tying free throw with seven-tenths of a second left before scoring 19 points in the extra session, most coming at the line.

Richmond erupted for 39 points, the third highest single game scoring output in program history and just one shy of the school record set by Ray Andersen in 1969 and matched by Bill Holden 20 years later. Richmond, who was 16 of 28 overall and four of eight from deep, scored 15 points in both the first and second halves before tallying nine of his team's 12 in OT.

Richmond is now fifth in the NE10 in scoring at 21.0 a game after averaging 24.5 in his last eight. He leads the conference in free throws made (117), has a team-best 49 assists and is the Falcons' second-leading rebounder (5.4).

Classmate Zach Gilpin (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy) put in 18 points against Stonehill, reaching double figures for the 11th straight game. After scoring 16.5 a game since mid-December, his season norm is up to 13.2. Over that same span, junior forward Brandon Wheeler (Stamford, Conn./Trinity HS) has averaged a double-double, 12.5 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Assumption, which has split its last six games, has four double-figure scorers, although the top two, seniors Marcus Murray and Karl Ziegler, didn't play in Wednesday's road loss to Southern New Hampshire (67-58). The five-foot-seven Murray missed his third straight while Ziegler, a six-five forward, was sidelined for the second time in four games.

Murray leads Assumption in scoring (14.6) and steals (27) while Ziegler is right behind him at 14.5. Six-seven sophomore Damien Rance owns a 12.3 scoring average and is the team's top rebounder (6.0), and senior guard Declan Soukup follows at 10.8 with 74 assists and 26 steals.

In the earlier meeting this season between two of the NE10's charter members, Bentley used ten three-pointers and 13 more free throws to prevail 80-72. Richmond led the way with 22 points, including 16 in the second half.

Next week, Bentley will play twice at the Dana Center, hosting Northeast Division-leading Southern New Hampshire Wednesday and Franklin Pierce Saturday.