WORCESTER, Mass. – Sophomores Joe Carroll (Cedar Grove, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) and Cash McClure (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook HS) combined for 50 points as Bentley University rallied from 16 points down to defeat Assumption University, 101-98, in double overtime in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Saturday afternoon at Laska Gymnasium.

Carroll finished with 26 points, shattering his previous career best of 15 points, and McClure matched his collegiate best with 24 points.

Bentley, with its third straight win, improved to 16-8 overall and 11-7 NE10. The Falcons moved into a tie for second place in the conference, along with Adelphi University, which lost in OT at Southern New Hampshire.

Carroll opened the second extra session by sticking a three from the right wing, putting the Falcons in front to stay. Senior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) followed with a triple from the opposite wing and Bentley was up 93-87 with 3:50 left.

Following two Assumption baskets, graduate wing Kellan Bochenek (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont HS) drove for a three-point play and a 96-91 lead with 2:04 on the clock.

A two-point game, 98-96 after an Assumption three from senior guard Nnajan Stewart (Newton) with under a minute on the clock, the Greyhounds got the ball back when a jump was called with 25.1 to play. After graduate guard Kani Glover (Brockton) missed a potential tying shot, McClure grabbed the rebound and made two free throws with 13.4 left to make it a two-possession game.

Laput sank one of two from the line with 6.6 seconds remaining and a long three from Hound sophomore guard Kyle Gaskins (Washington, D.C.) at the buzzer came up short.

 Scoring was limited in the first OT with each team scoring only four points, including a game-tying drive by grad forward Kasey Draper (Roanoke, Va.) with 29.6 seconds left. A potential game-winning 18-footer by senior guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) was off the mark and the game continued.

With seven-plus minutes left in regulation, Bentley was down 76-60 in a game it once led by 14, 18-4.

Ten straight Falcon points in a span of 79 seconds quickly reduced the deficit to ten, 76-70. Caroll converted a three-point play, Latham and McClure had driving lay-ups and Carroll knocked down a triple from the right wing.

Bentley, still down four as the clock dipped under a minute, closed to within two following an offensive rebound and two free throws by Laput with 46.3 seconds to play. Laput came up with a steal on the ensuing possession and Bochenek sank two from the stripe with 23.3 left. Draper attempted an 18-footer for the Hounds, but that fell into Laput's hands, just before the buzzer.

Carroll earned his career-best by hitting eight of 14 shots overall, two of three from deep and eight of ten free throws. McClure, who had 14 points before the game was nine minutes old, was eight of 12 overall with three baskets from distance. Both also had eight rebounds and two assists.

Laput finished with 17 points, ten rebounds and four assists, and Latham scored 14. Bochenek was the fifth in doubles as he netted ten.

Assumption, which scored 64 of its 98 points in the paint, received 22 points apiece from Glover and Stewart.

Keys to the Bentley win included increased defensive intensity during the second-half comeback, a 24-9 advantage in free throws made as the Falcons took a season-high 30, and 12 more rebounds, 50-38. There were 40 second chance points in the game, including 22 by Bentley.

Assumption shot better, 51-44 percent and both teams made seven three-pointers.

The Falcons will be back on campus Wednesday night to take on conference-leading St. Michael's at 7:30 pm.