WALTHAM, Mass. – In a game that included a dozen lead changes, Saint Anselm College had the last one, via a three-pointer with 4.5 seconds left, and edged Bentley University, 75-73, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Saturday afternoon on the Dana Center's Barbara Stevens Court.
 
Saint Anselm freshman guard Will Davies (Saco, Maine) hit a straight-away three-pointer to turn a one-point Falcon lead into a two-point Hawks advantage. Bentley pushed the ball up court but came up short when a three from junior guard Cash McClure (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook HS)  was off the mark.
 
Bentley, which had won three straight and was 8-2 in its previous ten games, dropped to 9-7 overall. Saint Anselm improved to 10-7 and both games are even in the NE10 standings at 6-4.
 
Three of the lead changes came in the final two minutes. Bentley, which led 68-64 with under four minutes to play, fell behind by one, 69-68, when Hawk freshman guard Eric Oliver-Bush (Trenton, N.J.) sank a three-ball.
 
The Falcons answered back and took a 70-69 lead on a turn-around jumper in the paint by graduate forward Ivan Misic (Toronto, Ont.) with 1:44 to play. McClure rebounded a Hawk missed three and Misic made it a four-point game with 68 seconds left, 73-69.
 
A three-point play by senior guard Jadon Archer (Enfield, Conn.) with just under a minute to go brought the Hawks to within one and it stayed that way until Davies' game-winner. Bentley had a chance to extend the lead with 24 seconds left but McClure missed the front-end of a one-and-one.
 
Following a back-and-forth first half, the two teams headed into intermission even at 38. Bentley opened the game with a 10-4 run, Saint Anselm surged ahead with a 21-3 burst and the Falcons closed the half with a 25-13 over the final 8:45.
 
Separation was minimal in the second half with the biggest differential being six points.
 
Bentley's offense was led by sophomore forward Connor Farrall (Valparaiso, Ind./Culver Academies), graduate guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) and Misic. The trio combined for 53 points and made eight of the Falcons' ten three-pointers.
 
Farrall had 20 points and seven rebounds, Latham finished with 17 and six assists, and Misic knocked down four triples on the way to 16 points.
 
For Saint Anselm, both Oliver-Bush and senior forward Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) had 15 points.
 
Team stats were similar with Saint Anselm shooting better (.462-.423) and Bentley having a slim edge in rebounds (42-38) and three-pointers (10-9).
 
Bentley's next game is next Saturday, a home encounter with Southern Connecticut State.