WALTHAM, Mass. -- Following an impressive performance in the team's Northeast-10 Conference opener, the 2-0 Bentley University men's basketball team will be in Philadelphia this Saturday for a 1 pm encounter with Holy Family University.
The Falcons notched win number two on Wednesday night, besting Merrimack College on the road, 72-58, in a match-up of the top two teams in the preseason NE-10 coaches' poll. The Warriors topped those rankings this year while Bentley, riding an unprecedented string of five straight conference regular season championships, was a close second.
Senior All-America guard Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan HS) scored a game-high 16 points for Bentley, a total that pushed him over 1,400 for his career. Six-foot-four senior John Brandt (Pawtucket, R.I./Wheeler School) led a strong bench effort for the Falcons (29 points on 12-17 shooting) with a career-best 14 points, nine coming during a clinching 13-4 second-half run.
Westrol, who should become on Saturday the 10th player in Bentley history to make 100 career starts, leads the Falcons with a 21.0 scoring average. He's one of five Falcons averaging in doubles thus far with the group including Brandt and juniors Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo.), Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville HS) and Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side HS).
There were some distinct contrasts between the season-opener against Post and the Merrimack game. Bentley struggled from three against Post, making only 3 of 31, but was 12 of 22 from downtown against the Warriors. In terms of free throws, the Falcons went from attempting 39 against Post to playing the entire 40 minutes without getting to the line Wednesday.
Holy Family opened its season with a 95-78 loss to Saint Anselm last Saturday, despite a 36-point, 12-rebound performance from six-nine sophomore Justin Swidowski.
Saint Anselm, 1-1, will be Bentley's next opponent when the Falcons resume Northeast-10 action Tuesday night (7:30, away).
