On March 16, 2010, led by outstanding performances from senior All-America guard Jason Westrol and junior forward Brian Tracey, the Bentley men's basketball team earned its third trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in four years with an 81-69 win over Philadelphia at Stonehill's Merkert Gym.

Westrol, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, buried a three-pointer from the left wing four minutes into the game for his 2,000th career point and finished with a career-best 33 points, a school-record 26 of those coming in the second half. Tracey had a huge first half, 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting and nine boards en route to a 22-point, 13-rebound night.

Following the team's 25th win over the season, Bentley will prepare for a quarterfinal game against Augusta State at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

"This is kind of overwhelming," said Bentley coach Jay Lawson following the game. "We were fortunate to get to tonight, and then to get back to the Elite Eight is just incredible."

A brilliant first-half by Bentley, at both ends of the court, sent the Falcons into intermission riding a 42-22 lead. The Falcons shot 56 percent overall, with five three-pointers, during the opening 20 minutes and at the same time, limited the Rams, 18-1 since the calendar turned to 2010, to just 26 percent overall and 4 of 17 inside the arc.

"Philadelphia is a very good offensive team," said Lawson. "To be able to hold them to 22 first-half points is quite an achievement."

Two first-half runs played key roles in the Falcons' building the 20-point bulge. With the score even at 10-10 (the only tie in a game that had no lead changes), a 12-3 Falcon run put Lawson's team up nine, 22-13. Tracey launched the run with a three-pointer and had seven of the 12.

After Philadelphia got within four, Bentley opened the game up by outscoring the Rams 20-4 over the final eight minutes of the half. Scoring in a variety of ways, Tracey had nine of the 20, and four others combined for the other 11.

"I was getting open shots, and I was just feeling it," said Tracey.

The Falcon lead peaked at 23, 50-27, when Westrol buried a three-pointer 3:19 into the second half.

Philadelphia, under the direction of the winningest coach in NCAA history (Herb Magee with 907 wins), responded by scoring 11 unanswered points and got as close as 11, 52-41, on a three-ball from senior guard Russell Frederick with 12:14 left.

A Westrol three-point play ignited a 12-4 run that put the Falcons back in command at 64-45 with 8:47 to play. Westrol had four more points during the surge and freshman guard Greg Jacques, who finished with a career-high eight points, banked in a three.

A three-pointer and a 16-footer by Westrol, the Northeast-10 and Daktronics Division II East Region Player of the Year, 23 seconds apart made it a 20-point game, 77-57, with five minutes straight up on the clock and Bentley was well on its way to the regional crown.

"Jason is the greatest finisher for a guard that I've ever seen in my 25 years in Division II basketball," Lawson said of Westrol, who tied a 30-year-old school record with his 26-point second half. The modest Westrol, in response, said "I just go out and play the game."

Once again, Bentley's ability to play solid defense without fouling was a key, in Lawson's mind. "Bridgeport only had two attempts from the line, Merrimack 13, and tonight we held a team that has taken 750 this year to just nine. Frederick and (Malcolm) Ingram had combined for over 450 free throw attempts this season, and tonight they had zero between them."

Bentley, which had struggled from the field for most of the last month, had its second best shooting performance of the year, finishing at an impressive .580 overall and .476 from three (10-21). Tracey, an All-Tournament Team selection, led the way at 8 of 10, and Westrol knocked down 14 of 21 shots with four three-pointers.  

Jacques scored his eight points without missing a shot in 12 minutes off the bench, and Bentley also received six points apiece from junior guard Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville HS), junior forward Joe Fremeau and senior guard John Brandt.