WALTHAM, Mass. – Two of the elite teams in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball, the Bentley University Falcons and the Saint Anselm College Hawks, will meet for the second time this season Wednesday night at Bentley's Dana Athletic Center. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm and the game will be streamed over the NE10 NOW Digital Network.

Bentley, 15-2 overall and ranked 14^th in this week's NABC Division II coaches poll, has won 13 of its last 14 and Saint Anselm (14-4) has won 12 of its last 13. The only loss for either team since late November came against the University of New Haven with the Falcons falling at last Wednesday, 60-59, and Saint Anselm losing 83-72 on January 7. Both lost on their home court.

Bentley, Saint Anselm and New Haven began the week in a three-way tie for first in the Northeast-10 with all three sporting 10-2 conference records. New Haven plays Tuesday night at tenth-place Adelphi University.

Coach Jay Lawson's Falcons will be looking to gain a split of the season series after dropping a 78-73 game at Saint Anselm Nov. 19 in a game that saw 13 lead changes and five ties. Field goal shooting and rebounds were even, but Saint Anselm had one more three-pointer and six more free throws made. Junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) led Bentley with 26 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and senior guard Miles Tension had a career-high 35 for Saint Anselm, a performance that included 12 of 12 from the charity stripe.

Bentley is coming off an 88-61 road win against Le Moyne College in a game the Falcons led by as many as 35 and shot 58 percent overall. Laput established a new career scoring high, finishing with 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) delivered a trio of three-pointers.

All five Bentley starters continue to average in double figures with Laput's 20.6 the second most in the region. He's had an outstanding shooting season (.563 overall, .452 threes, .845 free throws) and is second on the team in rebounds (6.8).

Graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University) follows at 14.8 and is in the top four in the conference in rebounds (9.5) and field goal percentage (.610). Webb's average is up to a season-high 13.1, graduate guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) is one of only two players in the conference averaging at least one steal and one block, and junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) is one of three Falcon starters with a field goal percentage over .500.

Bentley averages a conference-best 82.0 points and is also number one in the Northeast-10 in field goal percentage (.508), free throw accuracy (.792), rebounds (40.4), rebound margin (+11.8), assists (16.9), defending the three (.212) and scoring margin (+14.8).

While the Falcons have been the best in the NE10 in defending the three, Saint Anselm tops the conference in three-point shooting, both in terms of quantity (9.8) and accuracy (.406). The Hawks are second to Bentley in scoring (76.2) and assists, and are tenth in scoring defense (71.8).

There will be four 1,000 point scorers on the floor Wednesday night with Bentley's Webb and Leritz joined by Saint Anselm's Tension and senior guard Tyler Arbuckle. Arbuckle is the number two scorer in the NE10 at 18.0 and Tension is sixth at 15.2. Both can light it up from three with each shooting 45 percent from outside the arc.

This will be the 73rd meeting between former University of New Hampshire classmates Lawson and Keith Dickson. Lawson is in his 32nd year at Bentley and Dickson, a one-time Bentley assistant, in his 37th with Saint Anselm. It'll also be the 104^th all-time meeting between the two programs with Bentley leading the series by the slimmest of margins, 52-51.

After facing the Hawks, Bentley will be on the road for the fourth straight Saturday with a 3:30 game at Southern Connecticut State.