Ravens give newly anointed
Falcons all they can handle
RINDGE, N.H. (February 8,
2005) - Rewarded with its first No. 1-ranking in 16 years
earlier in the day, Bentley College was fortunate to escape with it
in hand as the Falcons edged Franklin Pierce, 70-67, in a
Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball thriller at the Franklin
Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.
Bentley, which moved up a spot to
No. 1 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC)
Division II rankings this afternoon, clinched the NE-10 regular
season crown and extended its current winning streak to 21 games
with the victory.
Junior guard Tim Forbes
(Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) led the Falcons with a
game-high 22 points (12 second half) to go with three assists and
three steals. He nearly single-handedly led Bentley back from a
late three-point deficit as he scored eight of the Falcons last ten
points.
Junior Sean Cooke (East
Windsor, N.J./Notre Dame) added 15 points and three
rebounds, while senior Greg Lacasse (Rochester,
N.H./Spaulding) chipped in ten points, a game-best
eight rebounds and two
blocks.
Sophomore Darryl
Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) led a balanced
Franklin Pierce effort with 14 points as he hit four-of-seven from
the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, to go with five
rebounds, four assists and two steals. Freshman
Mitchell Johnson (Nassau, Bahamas/Cushing
Academy) turned in a well-rounded game with ten
points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Juniors Justin Powell
(Brookline, Mass./Brookline) and Pierre
Sully (Jamaica Plain, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic)
each added 12 points, with Powell chipping in a team-best seven
rebounds and Sully posting four boards and three steals.
Bentley closed out the first half
on a 16-6 run to take a 13-point lead at the break (37-26). Forbes
and sophomore Danny Lawson (Lexington,
Mass./Lexington) both canned three's during the
stretch.
The Falcons lead was ten (46-36)
after a Forbes jumper 4:17 into the second half, but Franklin
Pierce responded with a 14-4 run to knot the score at 50-50, with
9:08 to play, after back-to-back three's from Minnifield. Bentley
regained a four-point edge, but three's from Johnson and Sully
sandwiched a Powell put-back during an 8-0 run to give the Ravens a
four-point lead (58-54) with 6:25 to
play.
Forbes scored a lay-up with 3:13 to
play that knotted the score at 62-62, but Sully answered with a
three to put the Ravens back ahead with 2:54 on the clock.
Forbes answered with a jumper to
pull the Falcons within a point, then drained two free-throws to
give them the lead for good (66-65) with 1:55 left. Lacasse scored
a lay-up to put Bentley up three with 53-seconds left and two
Forbes free-throws gave the visitors a five-point lead with
25-seconds to play.
Johnson hit a jumper with
15-seconds to play to bring the Ravens back within three and
freshman Nate Fritsch (Durham, N.C./Woodberry
Forest) missed two free-throws to give Franklin
Pierce one last chance to force overtime. However, three's from
Johnson and Powell in the closing seconds were just off the mark.
Franklin Pierce missed on five
straight possessions (one turnover) prior to Johnson's last jumper
with 15-seconds left. Bentley was 0-10 from three-point range in
the second half, while the Ravens hit 8-18 (44.4%), including five
during an eight-minute stretch during their comeback. Franklin
Pierce also enjoyed a 41-33 advantage on the glass, which resulted
in a 16-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Franklin Pierce (8-15, 6-12 NE-10)
returns to action on Saturday when it visits Stonehill College at
3:30 p.m. Bentley (24-2, 18-0 NE-10) visits Southern New Hampshire
University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
BOX
SCORE
