BRYANT'S 11-GAME WIN STREAK SNAPPED; BENTLEY HOLDS ON 81-73
Boxscore
WALTHAM, Mass. – John Williams scored 21 points while Mario Correia added 15 but it was not enough as the 5th-ranked Bentley College Falcons held on down the stretch to pull out an 81-73 win over Bryant University here Saturday at the Dana Center. The loss snaps Bryant's 11-game win streak as the Bulldogs drop to 18-7 overall and 14-7 in the Northeast-10.
Bentley, ranked No. 1 in the nation last week before dropping two straight, found its way back into the win column thanks to a career-high 23 points from Greg Lacasse and 21 from Sean Cooke. The Falcons won for the eleventh-straight time at home and equal a school record for conference wins in a season at 19.
The Falcons shot a sizzling 57.7 percent from the floor in the first half and led 38-31 at the break. In the second half, Bentley continued to score a bulk of its points in the paint, most coming from the hot hand of La Casse who scored 20 points in the second half alone and a majority from inside the paint.
Bryant trailed by as much as 13 midway through the second half, 57-42, but managed to cut the Bentley lead down to 69-64 on a three-pointer by John Williams with 4:02 left. After a pair of Lacasse free throws, Cullen McCarthy drained a deep three to pull the Bulldogs to within 71-69 with 2:45 left. But that would be as close as Bryant would get as Bentley would make six of seven free throw attempts in the final minute to pull out the win.
Bentley (25-4, 19-2 NE-10), which never trailed in the game, shot 50.8 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Bryant 42-38 in the game. Bryant finished the game shooting 37.5 percent from the floor and 5-for-18 from three-point range.
Bryant will wrap up the regular season on Monday when the Bulldogs travel to Merrimack College for a 7 p.m. game in Andover, Mass. The Northeast-10 Conference tournament will start next weekend.
