Bentley needs second effort
Falcons eradicate 12-point deficit
WALTHAM - The first half didn't sit too well with Yusuf Abdul-Ali. Saddled with two fouls, the Bentley senior floor leader spent nearly as many minutes on the bench as he did on the court.
The first half of the NCAA Division 2 Northeast Regional quarterfinal didn't sit too well with his Falcons teammates either. Bentley, riding a 30-game winning streak, was staring at a double-figure deficit for the first time all season.
And whether he was on the floor or the bench, Abdul-Ali had a front-row seat for the impressive display delivered by Darren Duncan, Merrimack's flashy sophomore guard, who scored 19 first-half points, when he wasn't busy setting up his teammates.
Abdul-Ali took it personally, and the Falcons followed his lead.
Bentley scored the first 8 points of the second half. The blitz kept coming, and by the time it was complete, the Falcons had taken their 31st straight win, a rugged 81-68 victory before a full house of 2,212 at the Dana Center.
The victory sends Bentley (31-0) into tonight's second semifinal against Bryant (18-12), a 63-56 winner over C.W. Post. Saint Rose (23-7), which outlasted Philadelphia University, 85-75 in four overtimes, and Assumption (23-10), a 74-66 OT winner over Holy Family, will clash at 5, making for an all-Northeast-10 affair.
Abdul-Ali and his mates were determined to play another night.
"They outplayed us, and Duncan outplayed all of our guards," said Abdul-Ali, whose team trailed by 12 at the half. "We didn't want it to be our last game, so we came out and competed our hardest."
His coach, Jay Lawson, said he's never seen any of his teams more focused at halftime.
"Not one guy took their eyes off me," said Lawson, who is in his 17th season. "Yusuf really set the tone before he ever left the locker room. The look in his eye before he went downstairs was, he was going to compete to the highest level. I think he was the premier player on the floor in the second half. He had a few helpers, too."
Playing all 20 minutes, Abdul-Ali poured in 12 of his 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a nifty double-pump drive to the rim in the opening 8-0 run. He handed out four assists. And the 5-foot-10-inch guard also hauled in eight of his game-high 11 rebounds.
On the defensive end, Abdul-Ali and Co., in the words of Merrimack coach Bert Hammel, "smothered" Duncan, limiting him to 6 second-half points, a pair of 3-pointers.
The Falcons put a hand in the face of every Merrimack shooter. The Warriors (17-12) shot 28 percent in the final 20 minutes after lighting it up in the first half (65 percent). Bentley dominated the glass (42-24) and seemed to come up with every loose ball.
"I thought that we won every 50-50 ball," said Lawson. "And we certainly started attacking the basket. Maybe they got gassed a bit."
Duncan played the first 39 minutes before fouling out. Guards Micky Burtnyk (15 points) and Darin Mency (11) played 40.
Bentley finally pulled even at 59 with 7:02 left when Lew Finnegan (11 points), on a backdoor cut, finished off a slick feed from Abdul-Ali. Duncan answered with a 3-pointer, but there was no stopping Bentley. Nate Fritsch (16 points) swished a trey for a 65-62 lead with 5:01 remaining, handing the Falcons their first lead since 8-7.
Bentley never trailed again, Abdul-Ali triggering a 10-0 spurt with a 3-pointer en route to a 77-65 spread. Jason Westrol was consistently stellar in both halves, scoring a team-high 21 points.
"It was a typical Bentley game, you have to be able to play 40 minutes against them," said Hammel, completing his 28th season on the Merrimack sideline.
"I knew that they would make adjustments. That's why they are champions."
Saint Rose and Philadelphia University played the longest game ever at the Dana Center, featuring four overtimes, before the Golden Knights were able to reach the regional semifinals for the second straight year. Steve Dagostino had 37 points for Saint Rose . . . Assumption needed just one overtime to get past Holy Family. Corey Diethorn racked up 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks for the Greyhounds, and Courtland Bluford provided 21 points and five assists . . . A long day of tournament basketball concluded with Bryant, led by Jon Ezeokoli (16 points), holding off C.W. Post.
Craig Larson can be reached at clarson@globe.com 