WALTHAM, Mass. – After closing strong for an 81-74 overtime win at Saint Rose Wednesday, the Bentley University men's basketball team will be looking to extend its winning streak to ten Saturday with a 3:30 pm game at American International.

The game from Butova Gymnasium can be viewed over the NE10NOW Digital Network (NE10NOW.tv).

A win over the Yellow Jackets would give the 14^th-ranked team in Division II its longest single season winning streak in a dozen years, since the 2010-11 Falcons won 12 in a row. Coach Jay Lawson's team is 11-1 overall and 6-1 in the Northeast-10, putting the reigning conference and regional champions a half-game back of first-place Saint Anselm.

American International, after dropping its last three, is 4-11 overall and 2-5 NE10. At home, the Jackets are 2-5 with wins against Assumption and Queens.

Wednesday, in a game that included 12 lead changes and eight ties, Bentley outscored Saint Rose 30-17 over the final ten minutes, including OT, to earn the hard-fought 81-74 victory.

Coach Jay Lawson leaned heavily on his starting five, which accounted for all the scoring and saw graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) and junior guards Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) and Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) each play at least 41 minutes.

Each of that trio scored five points in the extra session with Leritz (27 points, 13 rebounds) having his highest scoring game as a Falcon. Laput, the NE10 scoring leader, had 22 and Latham put up 16 points.

Laput averages 21.5 points on 57 percent shooting and Leritz (15.2 points, 10.1 rebounds) is averaging a double-double while shooting 61 percent overall and 56 percent from deep.  Latham follows with a 12.5 average and has both 40 assists and 18 steals.

Graduate guard Brian Wright-Kinsley (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) scored 11 points against Saint Rose, just about his season norm (11.2), but was a key contributor against the Golden Knights. He amassed nine rebounds, four steals, four blocks and a team-best +24.

Rounding out the starting five is graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS), who averages 11.7 average and has made 93.5 percent of his free throws, 29 of 31.

Guard Jack Hall has been having a strong freshman season for AIC as he leads the team in scoring (13.4), steals (20) and three-pointers (40). His top scoring game of the season came at Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, with 21 points

Also in doubles are Central Connecticut transfer Justice Ellison, at 12.9, and junior Jalen Jordan, at 10.0.

While Bentley has been the conference's top offensive and rebounding  team, AIC ranks 13^th in scoring (61.0), three-point accuracy (.319) and rebound margin (-9.5).

The Falcons have improved to 50-28 in the all-time series with AIC after winning the last seven games between the two, including 82-72 and 92-89 last year. In the latter meeting, there were 20 lead changes and 11 ties before the Falcons (16 three-pointers) prevailed. Colton Lawrence led the way with 25 points.

After the trip to Springfield, Bentley will be back in the Dana Center Wednesday, taking on Assumption.