Falcons stretch wings
For a change, Bentley begins tourney on road
For the last two years, and three of the last four, Bentley has hosted the Northeast Regional of the NCAA Division 2 men's basketball tournament. It was one of the spoils for winning the Northeast-10 tournament.
As the region's top seed, the Falcons were not required to travel until they advanced to the Elite Eight in Springfield.
This year, however, a change of scenery might do Bentley some good. The top-seeded Falcons were dispatched to Brookville, N.Y., for the East Regional following an upset loss to ninth-seeded Saint Anselm in the first round of the NE-10 tourney.
Bentley drew an at-large NCAA bid and the No. 2 seed in the region. The 19th-ranked Falcons (24-6) will face seventh-seeded Bridgeport (22-8), an at-large selection from the East Coast Conference, in tomorrow night's quarterfinals at C.W. Post. The winner will face third-seeded UMass-Lowell (21-7) or sixth-seeded Merrimack (20-8) in Sunday's semifinals.
Fourth-seeded Assumption (22-9) will face No. 5 seed Stonehill (21-7) for the right to face C.W. Post (27-0), the region's top seed, or No. 8 seed Philadelphia (25-5).
"The last two years we hosted [the regional] we had big crowds and were coming off crazy undefeated regular seasons," said Bentley coach Jay Lawson. "I'm ready for a change [from hosting], personally, and I think the team is ready for it."
The Falcons hosted Bridgeport Nov. 25 and posted a 96-67 victory in the only regular-season meeting.
"We won by a comfortable score, but it was deceiving," said Lawson, whose team will be coming off an 11-day hiatus. "Bridgeport has a number of Division 1 transfers and we caught them in November after they had been off for 10 days."
"It's the first time in the history of our conference that we've had two teams from the MASCAC make it to the Sweet 16," said Salem State coach Chris Harvey, whose Vikings (23-6) will face host Franklin & Marshall (24-5) tonight at 8 in Lancaster, Pa.
The winner will advance to the sectional final and face the winner of tonight's 6 o'clock semifinal between UMass-Dartmouth (27-3) and DeSales (24-5) tomorrow at 7 p.m.
On the women's side, Amherst (27-2) will host New York University (23-4) at 7 tonight in the Round of 16 for the right to advance to the NCAA Division 3 quarterfinals against the winner of today's 5 p.m. matchup between Brandeis (19-7) and Muhlenberg (26-3).
"We've just focused on DeSales, but if Salem State wins its game and we win ours, it'll make it easier to prepare for Salem State because we will have already faced them," said UMass-Dartmouth coach Brian Baptiste. "We'll just deal with what we have in front of us and go with that."
Bridgewater State (22-6) stunned top-seeded and host Middlebury by overcoming a 5-point deficit with 43 seconds remaining in its 78-76 triumph last weekend. It will face Farmingdale State today in the East Region in Pomona, N.J. It's the deepest the Bears have gone in the NCAA Tournament since they won a first-round game in 1983.
"The only people who thought we could win that game were the people in our locker room," said Bridgewater State coach Joe Farroba.
The Ravens (24-5) will face No. 8 seed Philadelphia (21-9) today at 1 p.m. in Philadelphia, with the winner advancing to face the winner of today's 3 p.m. matchup between Bentley (21-11) and American International (20-12).
Franklin Pierce coach Mark Swasey has quite a British sister act working in Rindge, N.H., where 5-foot-11-inch junior forward Johannah Leedham and 5-7 senior guard Jennifer Leedham of Ellesmere Port, England, have accounted for 46 percent of the Ravens' points this season.
"The two sisters are the heart and soul and the pulse of our team," said Swasey. "Both are outstanding players and make each other better."
