WALTHAM, Mass. – Alone atop the Northeast-10 standings, the Bentley University men's basketball team will close out January Saturday afternoon with a conference game at Southern Connecticut State. Tipoff is set for 3:30 pm and the game from the Moore Field House can be seen over NE10 NOW.

Bentley, which pulled out a 77-71 win over Saint Anselm Wednesday after seeing a second-half 24-point lead evaporate, owns a 16-2 overall record that included 11-2 conference and 8-1 on the road. Coach Jay Lawson's Falcons, who are seeking their second straight conference title, lead the NE10 by one game over both Saint Anselm and New Haven.

Southern Connecticut, 13-7 overall and 8-5 NE10, has dropped three of its last four after putting together a nine-game winning streak from December 8 to January 10. Most recently, the Owls fell at Southern New Hampshire, 65-64, after missing two potential go-ahead jumpers in the final 45 seconds.

This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams with Bentley looking for the sweep after an 86-62 victory in early December. Junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) led the scoring with 21 points, graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) buried five three-pointers and graduate forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS) recorded a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double

Webb, five three-pointers shy of becoming the tenth player in Falcon history with 200 career treys, has had the hot hand of late. He's scored 20-plus points in three of the last four games, including a season-high 24 against Saint Anselm, and has made 13 of 25 triples in the last three contests. For the season, he's made 44 of 47 free-throws, a .936 success rate.

Laput continues to lead the Northeast-10 in scoring with a 20.0 average. For his career, he's shot .524 overall, .433 from deep at .859 at the line. Leritz, in his first Bentley season, averages 15 points and is second in the conference in rebounds (9.3) and field goal percentage (.613).

Senior guard Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School), who averages 10.6 points and 7.6 rebounds, is one of only three NE10 players with at least 20 steals and 20 blocks. The other two play for Southern Connecticut, sophomore forward Cherif Diarra and senior center Zack Penn.

Senior guard Kellen Bochenek (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont HS) has put up back-to-back nine-point games off the bench, a stretch in which he's made eight of 11 shots, including a couple three-pointers.

In conference play, Bentley leads the NE10 in scoring (76.8), field goal percentage (.480), free throws made (11.6), free throw percentage (.788), rebound margin (+7.9) and scoring margin (+9.5).

Meanwhile, Southern takes the most shot attempts, due in large part additional chances created by their per-game norms of 12 offensive rebounds and nine steals. Only about a third of their shots are from outside the arc, in contrast to Bentley's 39 percent.

Coach Scott Burrell's Owls are led by senior guard Uylen Coleman, who has 1,269 career points and is averaging 15.3 points and 4.2 rebounds.  St. Peter's transfer guard Marty Silvera follows at 13.2 points a game and is the conference-leader in both assists (103) and steals (53).

Bentley leads the all-time series 28-12 and has won three in a row in the series.

The Falcons will be back at home Wednesday for a 7:30 encounter with Southern New Hampshire.