WALTHAM, Mass. – The Northeast 10 Men's Basketball Championship is coming to the Dana Center. Bentley hosts Southern New Hampshire in a first-round game Saturday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m. The Falcons are the #2 seed, and the Penmen are the #7 seed.

NE10 Championship homepage
 
How Bentley (19-8, 12-6 NE10) got here
Only a few weeks ago, five teams were tied for second place in the NE10 standings. But the Falcons pulled away from the pack by winning six consecutive games, and they closed out the regular season with eight wins in the final 10 games.
 
How SNHU (14-13, 8-10 NE10) got here
The Penmen started the month of February with a 3-9 conference record, but they made an improbable run to claim the last spot in the NE10 Championship. SNHU won six of its seven regular season games in February. The one loss during that run came in overtime against #1 seed Saint Anselm.
 
Season series favors SNHU
Bentley and SNHU went head-to-head three times during the regular season. They split the two conference games, and SNHU won the non-conference game early in the season (Nov. 19). The Falcons beat the Penmen in Manchester (Dec. 3), but SNHU won the regular-season finale in Waltham (Feb. 25). Between those three games, Cooper Farrall averaged 17.3 points and 10.0 rebounds.
 
Familiar territory
Bentley finished with the NE10's second-best regular season conference record for the fourth consecutive year. Starting with the 2013-14 campaign, the Falcons have finished top five in the NE10 in every season.
 
A postseason rematch
The Falcons and Penmen clashed in Manchester in last year's NE10 Semifinals, and SNHU escaped with a 58-56 win. Cooper Farrall led Bentley in scoring (22) and rebounding (11), while Chase Clarke contributed 10 rebounds off the bench. Bentley held a 54-43 lead with seven minutes left in regulation, but the Penmen closed the game with a 15-2 run.
 
Playing the percentages
The Falcons are among the conference's top three teams in a handful of different percentages. They rank first in 3-point percentage (38.2-percent) and third in field-goal percentage (47.9-percent). Defensively, Bentley is first in opponent field-goal percentage (41.0-percent) and third in opponent 3-point percentage (32.4-percent).
 
The Dynamic Duo
Cooper Farrall and Cash McClure are among the conference's top 10 leaders in several key statistics. Farrall ranks third in scoring (17.1), while McClure ranks seventh (16.1). Farrall is the conference's fifth-leading rebounder (8.3), and McClure is seventh (7.0). Farrall's 54.3 field-goal percentage is fourth in the NE10, and his 37.6 3-point percentage is 10^th. McClure leads the NE10 in free-throw shooting (89.0-percent), and he ranks second in assists (4.6).
 
Green light
Mantas Zilys leads the NE10 in 3-point shooting, connecting on 47.5-percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Zilys is one of four Falcons among the NE10's top 10 in 3-point shooting. Ivan Misic ranks sixth (40.4-percent), Joe Carroll ranks eighth (39.2-percent), and Farrall is 10^th (37.6-percent).
 
The NE10 field
The conference's top seed Saint Anselm earns a first-round bye. #4 Assumption hosts #5 Adelphi this Saturday, while #3 Pace hosts #6 Saint Michael's.
 
Scouting SNHU (14-13, 8-10 NE10)
JoJo Wallace is the only player averaging at least 20 points per game, and his scoring average is 23.8. Ugo Nwachukwu's 15.3 points per game ranks ninth in the NE10, and he's third in rebounding (8.8). As a team, SNHU shoots 44.6-percent from the floor and 34.6-percent from 3-point range.