WALTHAM, Mass. – With the regular season down to its final seven days and final three games, the Bentley University men's basketball team finds itself in a three-way battle for the final two berths out of the Northeast-10 Conference's Northeast Division for the conference championship tournament.

Following a pair of road losses last week, the Falcons are tied with Southern New Hampshire for fourth with a 9-9 conference record while Franklin Pierce is a game back in sixth, at 8-10.

Two of Bentley's final three contests are at home, beginning Wednesday night with the Falcons hosting St. Michael's College at 7:30 pm (www.bentleyfalcons.tv). The Falcons will also host second-place Merrimack College Saturday (2 pm) before closing out the regular season at Franklin Pierce next Tuesday.

Other pivotal games on Wednesday's slate have Franklin Pierce at home against Assumption and Southern New Hampshire facing first-place Saint Anselm in a neutral site contest.

Bentley, 12-11 overall, will be looking to complete the series sweep of St. Michael's after an 80-61 victory up in Vermont in early December. The Purple Knights, already eliminated from a chance at the postseason, will come into Waltham at 6-17 overall, including 3-15 NE10. They snapped an eight-game slide on Saturday with an 83-80 win at Assumption.

Bentley, 7-4 in home games, will be attempting to bounce back from an 86-66 loss to Saint Anselm on Saturday. Junior guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./Thompson Collegiate) was the Falcons' top scorer for the 12th straight game, finishing with 22 points.

On pace to become the first player in program history to average at least 22 points in multiple seasons and within reach of Ray Andersen's single season scoring record of 22.8, Richmond is third in the NE10 in scoring at 22.7. He's scored at least 22 in 10 of the Falcons' last 11 games and has a total of 17 20-point games this season.

Bentley's other double-figure scorers are sophomore forward Chris Hudson (Hodgdon, Maine/ Northampton Williston School) and junior forward Zach Gilpin (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy), at 12.4 and 12.0 points per game respectively. Hudson, third in the conference in field goal percentage (.573), has scored at least 15 in seven straight games and made at least half his shot attempts in 11 straight.

The Falcon defense, which has allowed three straight teams to shoot at least .500 from the floor, will be tested again Wednesday by St. Michael's junior guard Levi Holmes III, the NE10's number two scorer at 24.3. Over the last five games, he's buried 33 of 55 three-pointers while putting up 36, 38, 43, 23 and 33 points. That's a nearly 35 per game average and 60 percent shooting from downtown.

The only other Purple Knight scoring in doubles is junior guard Derek Cheatom at 12.8 per game. He'll come into Wednesday with a streak of ten straight games with at least one three-pointer.

In the earlier meeting this season, Bentley used a 15-0 advantage in second chance points and 66 percent shooting inside the three-point line to gain the victory in a game it never trailed. Richmond led all scorers with 26 points and the Falcons were able to limit Holmes to 15.

Due to opening weekend for the Bentley Arena, the starting time for Saturday's Senior Day game against Merrimack has been moved to 2 pm.