No. 19 Bentley Looks to Stay Hot Wednesday vs. Le Moyne
WALTHAM, Mass. – Following a nail-biting 90-87 win over American International College in a game that included 20 lead changes and 11 ties, the streaking Bentley University men's basketball team will be looking for its East Region-leading 14th straight win Wednesday night when it hosts Le Moyne College. Game time at the Dana Center is 7:30 pm and it will be streamed on the NE10 Digital Network.
Bentley, which has rallied from a halftime deficit to win its last four games, leads the Northeast-10 Northeast Division by a game-and-a-half over Saint Anselm and is a region-best 13-2 overall. The Falcons moved up four places to 19th in this week's NABC Division II coaches poll after extending their winning streak to seven.
The Falcons will be taking on a Le Moyne team that is 8-7 overall and 4-4 Northeast-10, good for fourth place in the NE10 Southwest Division. The Dolphins will be looking to bounce back from an 81-67 loss at Saint Anselm on Saturday.
The second-highest scoring team in the region, Bentley is producing 86.1 points a game and has won its last four second halves by an aggregate score of 192-137. The most recent second-half comeback was Saturday against AIC when they trailed 49-44 at the break and by as many as eight.
The team's balanced scoring continued against AIC when coach Jay Lawson's squad had five score in doubles for the fourth straight game. Graduate guard Colton Lawrence (Myerstown, Pa./ELCO HS) was at the top of the list this time with 25 points, his highest production since returning from an eight-game absence. Jordan Mello-Klein (Sharon/Thayer Academy), third nationally among Division II players in minutes and ninth in assists per game, followed with 19, along with seven assists, five steals and six rebounds.
Lawrence is putting up 18.6 points a game, including 17.5 the four games since his return, while shooting .585 overall and .537 from deep.
Bentley, the only conference team with four 15-point per game scorers, also receives 15.9 from senior guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS), 15.7 from Mello-Klein and 15.5 from sophomore guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS).
Le Moyne has four players putting up at least ten a game, with six-foot-six red-shirt freshman guard Christian Davis leading the way at 14.9. He's also the Dolphins' leading rebounder (67) and is their premier three-point threat. He was scoreless in six minutes Saturday at Saint Anselm.
Bentley is 24-10 all-time against Le Moyne, including three straight wins in the Dana Center. Le Moyne won the last meeting, 81-78 in January 2020, to halt the Falcons' six-game winning streak in the series.
Wednesday's game will be followed by a trip to Long Island for a Saturday afternoon encounter with Adelphi University.