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WALTHAM, Mass. – It's been 15 years since there has been a repeat champion in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Region (formerly the Northeast).

The Bentley University Falcons, who went back-to-back in 2007 and 2008, will look to reverse that trend over the coming days when they compete in the 2023 East Regional at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. Last year's regional title was the fourth since 2007 for longtime head coach Jay Lawson and his program.

Action at the Stoutenburgh Gymnasium will get underway with four games on Saturday, including second-seeded Bentley taking on seventh-seeded Dominican University (N.Y.) at 2:30 pm. The regional semifinals will be Sunday evening and the regional championship game will be Tuesday, with a trip to Evansville, Ind. awaiting the winner.

Bentley, which will be dancing for the 12th time under Lawson and the 20^th time in program history, enters the regional with a 21-6 record following a 71-70 loss to eventual champion Saint Anselm, the region's number one seed, in the Northeast-10 championships. The Falcons blanked the Hawks over the final 4:35 but came up just short in their attempt to overcome an eight-point deficit.

Dominican, 21-8, lost a tough one in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference final, 65-61 at Chestnut Hill on Feb. 28. The Chargers, who are in the NCAA's for the fifth straight season, have lost three of their last four after winning five straight from January 31-February 11. Their only loss in the season's 15 games came at Bentley on November 28, 95-58.

While Bentley lost three starters from last year's regional championship team, the top seven all have NCAA tournament experience. Junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS), the Northeast-10 Player of the Year, has started 54 consecutive games while graduate guard Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness HS) has started every game the last three seasons.

Laput leads the Northeast-10 in scoring (20.7), is Bentley's second-leading rebounder (6.7) and has had a strong shooting season with percentages of .551 overall, .429 from deep and .840 at the foul line. He netted his 1,000^th career point in the Saint Anselm game and has produced 24.4 points a game over the last five with two double-doubles.

Webb, a third-team All-Conference selection who is 10 points away from 1400 career, averages 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. He's 31 of 60 (.517) from downtown over the last ten games and his career free throw percentage of .905 is second best among active Division II players.

Webb is one of three grad students on a veteran Bentley team. Transfer forward Matt Leritz (St. Louis, Mo./St. Louis University), a second-team All-NE10 pick who has NCAA experience from his time at Illinois Wesleyan, averages 14.1 points and is among the conference leaders in rebounds (9.5) and field goal percentage (.569). Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School) averages 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds, and was voted to the NE10 All-Defensive Team.

Rounding out the starting five is junior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS), an 11.0 scorer who leads the team in assists (97) and steals (33).

Off the bench, Lawson is most likely to call upon seniors Kellen Bochenek (Kettering, Ohio/Fairview HS) and Isaac Martin (Atlanta, Ga./Norcross HS). Each plays about 13 minutes a game with Bochenek averaging 4.0 points and Martin 2.9.

Bentley leads the East Region in field goal percentage (.497), rebound margin (9.5) and assist-turnover ratio (1.38), and is second in scoring margin (12.1), defensive rebounds (30.0) and fewest fouls (12.3). Lawson's team averages 79.9 points and limits the opponents to 67.9.

Dominican, in Joe Clinton's 32nd year at the helm, features fifth-year senior guard Wahaad Johnson and six-six senior Justin Coplin. Johnson, who received first-team All-CACC honors, averaged 14.7 points while shooting 39 percent overall and 31 percent from three. Coplin, a second-team All-Conference pick, contributed 12.2 points and 6.5 boards a game. He's not a quantity shooter from three but has connected at a 43 percent clip.

Redshirt freshman guard Javel Cherry, who scores 9.7 a game, shoots nearly 50 percent from three, 28 of 57.

Dominican averages 76.1 points, gives up 73.7 a game and forces 15.6 turnovers a game.

In the first meeting between the two teams this year, Bentley scored 38 of the team's 48 points and went on to hand Dominican its first loss after five wins.  Leritz finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Laput followed with 19 and eight. The Falcons shot 56 percent and nearly doubled the Chargers on the boards, 53-27.

The two programs have met six times previously with Bentley having won four times and the Chargers twice.

In the other quarterfinal match-ups, Southern New Hampshire will be paired with Saint Thomas Aquinas, number one Saint Anselm will take on Caldwell and in the finale, New Haven will play Pace.

The winner of the Bentley-Dominican game will play the SNHU-STAC winner at 5:00 Sunday in the first half of a semifinal doubleheader at Saint Anselm.