Bentley men's basketball to face UMass-Lowell

By Craig Larson, GLOBE STAFF

This is a rugged, and challenging stretch for the Bentley University men's basketball team.

Tenth-ranked Stonehill in North Easton last Wednesday night. Fellow Northeast-10 Conference leader Merrimack Saturday afternoon. The University of Massachusetts at Lowell, riding a 13-game winning streak, visits the Dana Center on Wednesday night.

The Falcons stopped Stonehill, 73-61, halting the hosts 10-game winning streak, and avenging 78-65 loss in Waltham in early January.

Merrimack, under the direction of Bentley Hall of Famer Bert Hammel, was determined to end its eight-game losing skid against the Falcons on Saturday.

But Bentley responded at every juncture.

The Warriors jumped out to an early 20-12 cushion.

The Falcons surged ahead, 40-36, thanks to the crafty work of sophomore wing Tommy Dowling.

With an under-the-weather Lew Finnegan (0 for 4 from the floor start) running on fumes, and leading scorer Jason Westrol (a 25-plus minute stretch without a point), emerging 6-5 sophomore forward Brian Tracey dropped in 13 points over a four-minute span, including a sweet finish off an inbound lob, for a 63-52.

But Merrimack wouldn't go away.

The Warriors ran off six straight points for a 74-all tie, the capper a trey by junior guard Darren Duncan (game-high 23 points), and then took the lead 75-74.

That was enough for Westrol.

The 6-foot-3 power guard scored 10 of his 18 points in a game-closing 12-4 run, including a third-chance put-back of his own miss, for an 80-77 lead and the Falcons pulled away their ninth straight win, 86-79, before a crowd of 1,065.

"How many times can you beat good teams before they put their foot down," asked Bentley coach Jay Lawson, his team now 18-4 overall, and 12-3 in NE-10 play. "But we kept responding as the game went on. This was a hard game, mentally. We were up on them 30 when we beat them (Jan. 6, 91-68)."

Tracey (22 points on 9 of 14 shooting) was one of five Falcons to hit for double figures. In addition to Westrol, Dowling finished with 15, Finnegan gutted his way to 14 and sophomore guard Mike Quinn hads 13 in a team-high 36 minutes.

On Wednesday night, UMass-Lowell (17-3, 12-3) will be in Waltham, the third straight game in which Bentley squares off against a first-place team.

"Another first-place team, they have incentive, because we beat them up there (72-64 on Dec. 30)," said Lawson.

Merrimack is 15-5 overall, and 11-4 in the NE-10.