WALTHAM, Mass. --- Coming off a third straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen, the Bentley University men's basketball team has been ranked fifth in the division preseason by The Sporting News.
Bentley, 26-7 last year and the third winningest team in Division II over the last five seasons (143-24, including 92-9 over the last three), trailed Bellarmine University (26-7), Brigham Young-Hawaii (27-2), Central Missouri (30-5) and Valdosta State (24-7) in the top five.
Bentley coach Jay Lawson, who doesn't put a lot of stock in preseason rankings, returns five of last year's top seven, a list headed by senior guard Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan HS), one of three Northeast-10 Conference players cited by the magazine in its annual college preseason yearbook. He was selected to the magazine's preseason Division II All-America first team, which also included Merrimack's Darren Duncan, and Le Moyne's Laurence Ekperigin was named to the second team.
Westrol, Bentley's leading scorer for the second straight year, collected three All-America awards after last season when he helped the Falcons to an unprecedented fifth straight Northeast-10 regular season championship. He was chosen for the National Basketball Coaches Association/State Farm team, was on the Basketball Times third team and the Division II Bulletin fourth team.
Lawson lost a pair of starters to graduation, including All-Conference performer Lew Finnegan, but has several other key returnees, in addition to Westrol. Junior guards Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side HS) and Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn/ Montville HS) are both returning starters, and six-foot-five Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo./Heritage HS) was extremely productive off the bench.
Tracey was third on the club in scoring, averaging 12.7 points, and led the team in field goal percentage (.530), three-point shooting (.425) and rebounds (6.5). Dowling followed with 10.5 ppg, and Quinn (121 career three-pointers) had a 7.6 average in his second year as a starter.
Also being counted on this winter are senior guard John Brandt (Pawtucket, R.I./Wheeler School) and junior forward Joe Fremeau (Manchester, N.H./Central HS).
Bentley opens its season Nov. 15 against Post University.
THE SPORTING NEWS PRESEASON DIVISION II TOP TEN
1. Bellarmine, Ky. | 26-7 |
2. Brigham Young-Hawaii | 27-2 |
3. Central Missouri | 30-5 |
4. Valdosta State | 24-7 |
5. Bentley | 26-7 |
6. Indiana, Pa. | 22-8 |
7. Grand Valley State | 21-10 |
8. Humbolt State, Calif. | 20-12 |
9. Cal Poly Pomona | 25-8 |
10. St. Cloud State | 22-9 |
