WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley University men's basketball team will be looking to continue its recent success Tuesday when the Falcons make their annual trip to Rindge, N.H. to take on Franklin Pierce University. The 7:30 pm game from The Fieldhouse will be streamed over NE10 NOW on FloCollege.
Coach
Jay Lawson's team has moved into a tie for fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference after winning five straight road games, including 85-64 at Assumption University Saturday, and seven of its last nine overall. The Falcons' 8-6 record includes 5-3 in conference play.
Franklin Pierce has been in a rebuilding process in Mike Ruane's second season at the helm. The Ravens, 2-13 overall and 1-7 NE10, have wins over Mercy College, 85-83, and American International, 80-70.
Bentley is coming off one of its best offensive performances of the season with the Falcons shooting 55 percent overall and scoring 48 points in the paint against Assumption. Rebounding was also impressive with a plus-10 margin.
Northeast-10 Player of the Week
Cooper Farrall (Valparaiso, Ind./Culver Academies), a sophomore forward, led the balanced attack with 16 points and eight rebounds. Graduate forward
Ivan Misic (Toronto, Ont.) made three of four from distance and scored 15, and four others netted between nine and 12 points.
Junior guard
Cash McClure (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook HS) and Farrall are both among the conference leaders in scoring, rebounds and field goal percentage. McClure, third in scoring and fifth in rebounds, averages 18.7 points and 7.8 rebounds. Farrall, who has totaled 62 points and 28 rebounds in the last three games, is ninth in scoring (15.1) and fourth in rebounds (7.9). They are the only duo in the NE10 ranked in the top ten in rebounding.
Graduate guard
Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) is the Falcons' third player who is averaging in double digits. He's scored between 10 and 14 in 12 of 14 games and is averaging 11.2 points. Latham is also third in the conference in assists per game, at 4.6.
Bentley, which has averaged 82.5 points over the last ten games, is second in the conference in scoring (80.6). The Falcons lead the NE10 in field goal percentage (.480) and three-point shooting (.366), with at least one long ball in a Division II record 1,009 consecutive games, and also give up a conference-low 31.1 rebounds a game.
Franklin Pierce is coming off an 82-60 road loss to St. Michael's, a game in which the Ravens were held to a .329 field goal percentage and only three three-pointers in 13 attempts. It was a five-point game with about 12 minutes to play, but the Purple Knights closed with a 37-2- run.
Six-five grad student Donte Pope, a transfer from Emmanuel, is the number two scorer in the conference with 21.3 points per game. The team's top scorer in 12 of 15 contests, he's made 25 of 62 from distance. The only other Raven averaging in doubles is six-six junior Demariontay Hall, who scores 13.8 a game in addition to a team-best 6.3 rebounds. Pope and Hall are among the top five in the NE10 in field goal percentage.
Defense has been an issue with the Ravens giving up nearly 86 a game and allowing the opponents shoot 47 percent. Franklin Pierce also turns the ball over nearly 18 times a game, the most in the conference.
Bentley topped the century mark in both games while sweeping the Ravens last year, 111-64 and 102-54, and has won four of the last five meetings. McClure totaled 45 points in the two games on 16 of 22 shooting.
Two home games will follow the encounter with Franklin Pierce. The Falcons will host Saint Anselm Saturday and Southern Connecticut Jan. 25.
