On March 26, 2008, the Bentley Falcons remained the only undefeated team in men's college basketball, improved to 34-0 and advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in the program's history with 102-92 win over North Alabama in the final quarterfinal at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Sophomore Jason Westrol led the Falcons with a career-best 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, junior Lew Finnegan added 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds, and four teammates joined those two in double figures.

The Bentley win sets up a rematch with 36-1 Winona State, the only team to claim a win over the Falcons since the start of last season, a span in which coach Jay Lawson's team is an incredible 66-1. The Warriors, who were the NCAA Division II champion last year and the national runner-up last season, disposed of the nation's only other undefeated team at the start of the day, Grand Valley State, 67-54.

"We were here last year, lost in the quarterfinals and did not play very well. Winona had a lot to do with that. I think you saw a focused group of student-athletes who have worked hard for 12 months to get back to this spot. Even in the locker room, we were different than we were last year. We were much more relaxed," said Lawson.

Down two midway thru the first half after a three-ball from 6-6, 300-pound forward Thomas Fraise, Bentley embarked on a 22-8 run to take control. That spurt included smaller runs of 10-3 and 10-0.

The 10-3 flurry included two baskets from Westrol, three points from senior point guard Yusuf Abdul-Ali and a Finnegan trey.  With the lead at two with six minutes left, the Falcons ran off ten unanswered over a span of 2:04 to take its first double-digit lead, 41-29. Four different players scored, and Abdul-Ali, playing in his hometown, had a pair of fast-break lay-ups to cap it.

At the half, the lead stood at a dozen, 48-36. Westrol already had 15 points, Abdul-Ali had nine along with five of his career-best eight assists, and the Falcons had a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint and only three giveaways.

The Falcons maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the second half, and eventually led by as much as 19 points, 81-62, with 8:15 to go in the game following a layup by sophomore guard Mike Quinn.

The Lions, who finished their season at 27-9, staged a late rally, outscoring the Falcons 12-1 over about a two-minute stretch to draw within eight with 3:20 remaining.

Finnegan ended Bentley's three-minute scoring drought with a lay-up, Quinn finished a fast break, and senior All-America Nate Fritsch sank a pair of free throws.

Bentley held off the Lions' bid for a comeback by making eight free throws in the final 102 seconds before freshman Brian Tracey gave the Falcons their highest point total of the season with a slam with 12.8 seconds left.

Westrol, whose previous best was 23 points, attempted one more free throw than the entire UNA team and made the same number, finishing seven of ten from the stripe. He also came up with three steals, and recorded two assists and four rebounds.

Finnegan drained three of five triples and finished with 19 points. Abdul-Ali had 15 points on six-of-nine shooting, and had five rebounds in addition to his eight helpers. Quinn added 13 points, 6-foot-7 junior Mike Sikonski came up big with 11 points and four rebounds, and Fritsch added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Fraise was the top scorer for North Alabama, finishing with 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting with a pair of triples.

Bentley shot 55 percent for the game, attempted 36 free throws (making 27) and committed only ten turnovers while coming up with eight steals. UNA, with their strong finish, shot 49 percent overall with nine threes, but was forced into 15 turnovers.