STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – On a day that the Bentley University three-point streak hit 1,000 consecutive games, the Falcons buried a dozen, including eight during a second-half comeback.
 
Despite the strong shooting after intermission, Bentley came up short in the end, falling to the College of Staten Island, 84-82, in non-conference men's basketball at the Sports and Recreation Center Saturday afternoon.
 
Junior guard Cash McClure (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook HS) had an outstanding game for Bentley, particularly in the second half. He finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, with 21 of his markers coming in the second half. McClure matched his career-best for rebounds and came within one of his lifetime-high in the other two categories.
 
CSI junior guard JJ Chestnut (Watervliet, N.Y.), the game's top scorer with 24 points, broke the game's sixth deadlock with a driving lay-up with 1.6 seconds left, putting his team up two.
 
Following a timeout and a long inbound pass, McClure's final three-point try was off the mark and Staten Island survived in a game it once let by 15.
 
After an 11-2 Dolphin run put CSI up 42-27, Bentley got back into the contest by closing the first half with an 8-2 spurt. Four of those were scored by sophomore forward Cooper Farrall (Valparaiso, Ind./Culver Academies).
 
Bentley, the first program in NCAA Division II history to make a three-pointer in 1,000 consecutive games, drained five long balls in the first five-and-a-half minutes of the second to even the score at 50 apiece. Three of the five were launched by McClure.
 
The Falcons took their first lead with 13:35 left, 54-53, as junior guard Luke Britton (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs HS) finished a fast break with a lay-up.
 
There would be six more lead changes over the next 2:15 and Bentley went up four, 65-61, on a traditional three-point play by McClure midway through the second half.
 
Staten Island, still down four with 6:28 left after two McClure free throws, used a 9-2 run to take a 76-73 advantage with 2:36 to play. A three-point lead by Bentley graduate guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) forced a 76-all tie with 2:17 to play.
 
After the Dolphins went back up four, three-balls from Latham and McClure created an 82-all tie with 17.7 seconds remaining. CSI, following a timeout with 8.4 on the clock, got the ball to Chestnut and he provided the game-winner.
 
In addition to the 23-point game from McClure, Bentley received 14 from Farrall, 11 from Latham and 10 from graduate forward Ivan Misic (Toronto, Ont.). Latham matched McClure with seven assists.
 
Staten Island had the slight shooting advantage, 52-51 percent, and outscored the Falcons 52-34 in the paint. The visitors finished 12 of 26 from deep, as compared to CSI's 7 of 19.
 
Rebounding was a factor as the Falcons were outboarded 31-21 and gave up 22 second-chance points.
 
The 1,000-game streak of the Falcons dates back nearly 35 years, to December 1989.
 
Bentley, 1-4, will return home to host American International in a Northeast-10 contest Tuesday evening.