WALTHAM, Mass. – In two games last week, the Bentley University men's basketball team handed Saint Anselm College just its second loss in a 14-game stretch and defeated a Southern Connecticut State had won seven of its eight home games this season.

The difficult stretch for the Northeast-10 leaders will continue Wednesday when coach Jay Lawson's 11^th-ranked Falcons host Southern New Hampshire University. For those who can't make it to the Dana Center for a 7:30 pm game, it will be available on the NE10 NOW Digital Network.

Southern New Hampshire, coached by former Bentley captain and assistant coach Jack Perri, will make the trip to Waltham with records of 12-7 overall and 9-4 NE10 after winning eight of nine since mid-December. The Penmen are coming off a three-game homestand that ended with a 66-49 win over Pace University on Saturday.

Bentley returned from the 72-67 win at Southern Connecticut State 17-2 overall and 12-2 conference as it strives for a second straight Northeast-10 championship. The Falcons enter February and the final six games of the regular season with a one-game lead over second-place Saint Anselm, two games over New Haven and two-and-a-half games over fourth-place SNHU.
                All five Bentley starters continue to own double figure scoring averages with junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) at the top of the Northeast-10 list with a 20.1 average. His 22 points against Southern Connecticut marked the 13^th time this season he's had 20 or more and that game was the eighth time he's shot 60 percent of better. No one in the conference has taken more free throws and he's seventh in field goal accuracy.

Graduate transfer Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University HS), the NE10 Player of the Week for the second time in January, is second in the conference in rebounds, field goal percentage and three-point accuracy in addition to averaging 15.3 points. In two games last week, he averaged 19.5 points and made 68 percent of his shot attempts.

Coach Jay Lawson's starting five, which hasn't varied all season, also includes junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) and grad students Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) and Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School). Webb, three triples away from 200 career, averages 13.4 points. Latham (11.0 PPG) leads the Falcons in assists (67) and steals (26), and Wright-Kinsey (10.3) has had double-figure rebounds in three of the last four games.

 Bentley ranks second in Division II in fewest fouls, fourth in defensive rebounds, fifth in rebound margin, seventh in free throw percentage and ninth in field goal percentage. Saturday's game marked the tenth time this season the Falcons have shot 50 percent or better overall.

Southern New Hampshire features junior guard Matt Becht, whose average is up to 15.5 points and is the conference leader in three-point shooting (.496). He's drained at least three triples 12 times with a high of six against Adelphi.

The other primary scorers for the Penmen are sophomores Evan Okwuosa (12.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG) and Evan Guillory (11.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG).

While Bentley leads the NE10 in scoring, SNHU is second in both scoring defense (64.7) and in defending the three (.320)

In the earlier meeting between the two teams, playing in Manchester November 22, Bentley dominated the boards, 49-29, during an 88-70 win. Leritz had 19 rebounds, most by a Falcon in more than 40 years, and Laput scored 21. That was the fourth straight win against SNHU for Bentley, which leads the all-time series, 32-27.

Following Wednesday, Bentley will be off under a Tuesday night encounter at Adelphi University.