#23 Bentley Rolls by Franklin Pierce, 72-46
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Westrol and Finnegan lead Falcons to 11th-straight win
RINDGE, N.H. (February 7, 2009) - Bentley University, ranked 23rd in this week's NABC Division II poll, rolled to its 11th-straight win with a 72-46 victory over Franklin Pierce University in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Fieldhouse this afternoon.
Senior Lew Finnegan (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) posted 17 points and four assists, while junior Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan) totaled 15 points (all first half), eight rebounds, five steals and two assists to lead Bentley to the victory. Sophomore Tom Dowling (Rockville Center, N.Y./South Side) added 15 points, aided by 9-for-10 shooting at the free-throw line while also connecting on 2-of-3 three-pointers. Sophomore Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo./Heritage) chipped in with seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
Junior Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) was the lone Franklin Pierce player in double-figures with ten points, four rebounds (three offensive) and two steals. Senior Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon School) added eight points and six rebounds, while sophomore Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass./The Winchendon School) grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.
Bentley finished shooting 40.4-percent (23-for-57) from the field, including 9-for-25 (36%) from three-point range, and converted 17-of-18 (94.4%) free-throw attempts. Franklin Pierce was held to 33.3-percent (18-for-54) shooting, connecting on just 3-of-16 (18.8%) three-pointers.
Franklin Pierce jumped out to a 6-2 lead on three-straight Ray lay-ups two minutes in. The Ravens still held a lead (17-15) after a put-back by sophomore Andy Pelletier (Troy, N.Y./The Winchendon School) with 10:40 left in the half. However, Bentley closed the half with a 20-4 run to take a 14-point lead (35-21) into the locker room. Westrol tallied 13 of his 15 first half points during that stretch, including back-to-back fast-break layups off his own steals and added a conventional three-point play as well.
Senior Craig Shepherd (Grantham, N.H./Trinity) opened the second half with a three-pointer for Franklin Pierce, but that 11-point margin (35-24) would prove to be as close as the Ravens would get. Bentley scored the next eight points of the half to push its lead to 19 (43-24) 3:04 into the second. A Finnegan three extended the lead to 22 points (55-33) with 9:56 remaining and the margin grew to 30 (66-36) after back-to-back Falcon three's with 5:20 to play.
Franklin Pierce (10-12, 7-10 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday when it opens a four-game road trip at Merrimack College at 7:30 p.m. The Ravens return home for their regular season finale against American International College on Saturday, February 21, at 3:30 p.m. Bentley (20-4, 14-3 NE-10) hosts Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.