WALTHAM, Mass. – The fourth longest active winning streak in Division II men's basketball and the fifth longest current home win streak will be on the line Wednesday when the Bentley University Falcons host the University of New Haven Chargers. The 7:30 pm game from the Dana Center will be streamed on the NE10 NOW digital network (www.NE10NOW.tv/bentleyfalcons).

The two teams are among the top three in the Northeast-10 with Bentley, the defending champion, one game in front of both New Haven and Saint Anselm. The Falcons are the conference's highest scoring team and the Chargers are number one in scoring defense.

Bentley, which moved up to 11^th in this week's NABC Division II poll, returns from a 70-58 win at St. Michael's College Saturday with a 14-1 overall record, including 9-1 Northeast-10. The team's 12-game winning streak matches the program's longest since the 2009-10 team won 14 straight and coach Jay Lawson's team has won its last 22 home games.

New Haven, which ended Bentley's season in both 2019 and 2020, is 11-4 overall and 8-2 NE10 after winning five of its last six and nine of its last 11. The Chargers are 7-0 at home this season, including a 58-51 win over Southern Connecticut Saturday,  but are only 4-4 on the road.

All five starters for Bentley, which tallies over 83 points a game, own double-digit scoring averages. That includes graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) who scored a season-high 20 at St. Michael's, including the 1200^th of his career. He's tied for 12^th in program history in career threes (182) and is shooting 95 percent from the foul line this year, having made 37 of 39.

Junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) remains the only player in the conference scoring at least 20 points a game. He's had at least 19 points in 13 of 15 games and over the last two games, has shot 65 percent from the field.

Graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) is second in the Northeast-10 in both rebounds and field goal percentage (.624) and seventh in scoring with averages of 15.2 points and 9.8 rebounds. His first year as a Falcon has included a conference-best six double-doubles.

Rounding out Bentley's starting unit are junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS), who leads the team in steals (21) and assists (49) while averaging 11.8 points, and graduate guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School), who scores 11 points a game and has 22 blocks.

The Falcons outrebound their opponents by 11.5 a game and limit the opposition to 43 percent shooting overall and 32 percent from three.

While Bentley puts up 83 points a game, New Haven has allowed more than 75 only once all season. The Chargers lead the conference in fewest turnovers and fouls, and feature seven-foot-one center Majur Majak. Last year's NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, he's third in Division II in rebounds (11.3) and fifth in blocks per game, averaging 2.8.

New Haven has several offensive threats, including Buffalo transfer Tyrone Perry and graduate student Quashawn Lane, a second-team All-Northeast-10 honoree last year. Perry leads the team with a 15.9 average and Lane follows at 14.1 with a .530 field goal percentage. Davontrey Thomas, who scores 13.8 a game, is the Chargers' top three-point threat with 42 treys.

Bentley is 22-12 all-time against New Haven but had lost five straight in the series before posting an 80-78 win last year. Webb hit a go-ahead three with 43 seconds left and the Chargers missed three triples in the final 27 seconds.

This week's schedule for the Falcons also includes a Saturday game at Le Moyne College.