Latham's Buzzer-Beater
 
WALTHAM, Mass. – Graduate point guard Aaron Latham (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury HS) hit a turn-around 13-footer as time expired to give Bentley University a come-from-behind 70-68 win over Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball Saturday afternoon on the Dana Center's Barbara Stevens Court.
 
Latham scored all of his 13 points in the second half with nine coming during the Falcons' game-closing 25-8 run that covered the final 9:05 and erased a 15-point deficit.
 
The win, Bentley's fourth in its last five games, boosted the Falcons to 10-7 overall and 7-4 NE10. Southern Connecticut, which was riding a five-game winning streak, dropped to 10-8 overall and 6-6 conference.
 
The Falcon comeback began with a Latham foul-line jumper and continued with an inside basket from junior forward Chase Clarke (Bloomfield, N.J./Newark Academy) and five straight markers from junior guard Cash McClure (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook HS). That string of nine in a row cut the Owl lead to six, 60-54, with 6:21 to play.
 
Still down six with 3:16 to play , the Falcon surge continued with a lay-up from graduate forward Ivan Misic (Toronto, Ont.) and a three-point play by Clarke making it a one-point game.
 
Clarke rebounded a missed three-ball from Southern leading scorer and junior guard Albert Vargus (New York, N.Y.), and McClure followed with a fallaway jumper  with 1:37 remaining that gave the Falcons their first lead since the opening five minutes.
 
Latham buried two from the line with 25.9 seconds left, making it a three-point game, but Vargas countered with a trey that tied the game with 12.1 seconds on the clock.
 
The ball was inbounded to Latham, who ran it down to about five seconds before attacking and delivering the game-winner.
 
During the decisive 25-8 closing run, Bentley made nine of its 12 shots while holding Dallas to just two baskets, both from three-point land, in 14 attempts. Paint points were 12-0 Falcons and points off turns were 6-0.
 
Thirteen turnovers, resulting in 17 Owl points, and 16 offensive rebounds by Southern were costly to the Falcons during the game's first 30-plus minutes.
 
Southern closed the first half with a 12-5 run to go up 38-29 and used an 11-2 spurt to open its first 15-point advantage, 56-41, with 11:30 to play.
 
Misic was Bentley's top scorer with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the three-point line. Latham's 13 was matched by McClure, and Clarke finished with nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.
 
McClure led Bentley with nine rebounds, and Latham's day also included seven assists.
 
Vargas powered Southern with 21 points but was limited to five on 2-of-10 shooting in the second half. The Owls also received 15 rebounds, including eight offensive, and 12 points from junior forward Cherif Diarra (Queens, N.Y.).
 
Bentley countered Southern's rebounding advantage (41-29) with superior shooting (53-36 percent) and better three-point shooting. Coach Jay Lawson's team was 10 of 22 and kept the Owls, the NE10 leader in three points made and attempted, to 8 of 30 (.267).
 
Bentley is on the road twice next week, beginning Tuesday at conference-leading Adelphi University.