32-0 Bentley Puts Clamps on Bryant, Advances to NCAA Regional Final with 60-41 Win

                WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior forward Nate Fritsch (Durham, N.C./Woodberry Forest) scored a game-high 17 points and led a Falcon defense that allowed only eight field goals and 27 points over the final 35:30 as undefeated Bentley reached the championship game of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Northeast Regional for the third time in four years with a 60-41 win over Bryant University Sunday night at the Dana Center.

                The defending regional champions, 32-0 and ranked number one nationally in Division II, will host second-seeded Assumption College, a 52-51 winner over Saint Rose, in Tuesday’s regional final, with a trip to Springfield for the Elite Eight at stake.  It’s a rematch of last week’s Northeast-10 Conference championship game, won by the Falcons 93-77.

                Bentley, with the win, matched the school record for wins in a season, set a year ago, and tied last year’s club for the longest winning streak in New England men’s basketball history. It was the Falcons’ 62nd straight win over a Northeast Region opponent and their 36th consecutive home win.

                A four-point game five minutes into the second half, Bentley put this one away with an extended 21-2 run over a span of about nine minutes. Fritsch began the run with a three, and sophomore guard Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan HS) followed with a lay-up.

                Bryant temporarily interrupted the run on a lay-up by freshman Barry Latham (Taunton), a basket that proved to be the Bulldogs’ final field goal for more than ten minutes.  By the time they connected from the field again, a three-ball from junior Peter Lambert (Cumberland, R.I.) with 2:16 left, Bentley was up 23.

                Bentley followed Latham’s basket with 16 unanswered points, over a stretch of about six minutes. Junior guard Lew Finnegan (Lexington/Lexington HS) made a jumper, senior guard Yusuf Abdul-Ali (Springfield/New Leadership Charter School) had a tip-in, sophomore guard Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville HS) nailed a three, Frisch followed with his fourth and fifth triples of the night, and freshman guard Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side HS) also connected from downtown.

                The night didn’t start out on a positive note for the Falcons, with Bryant jumping out to a 14-4 start as it buried five of its first eight shots. Included were five points from senior guard Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange, N.J.).

                Bentley came alive with an Abdul-Ali lay-up and a Fritsch trey, and eventually took the lead for good on a fast-break lay-up by Quinn with 11:37 left in the first, 20-18.   That came during an 18-4 spurt that more than erased Bryant’s early ten-point lead (only the second time this season the Falcons have been down by that many).

                Bryant, which finished its final season as a Division II program at 18-13, was held to a season-low point total (previous was 45 earlier this season against Bentley), and the Falcons posted their best field goal percentage defense of the season, limiting the Bulldogs to 26 percent.  After the fast start, they were just 8 of 42 (19 percent) over the final 35 minutes.

                Fritsch was outstanding (“a typical day of basketball for Nate” according to Bentley coach Jay Lawson), filling the stat sheet with six assists (tying his career-high) and five rebounds, as well as the 17 points. He buried four of five threes, was five of eight from the field overall, picked up a steal, took a couple charges and accomplished all that in only 22 minutes.

                Bentley’s balanced attack also included eight points apiece from Abdul-Ali, Quinn and Westrol, seven from Finnegan, and six from Dowling. Quinn and Dowling each grabbed six rebounds, helping the Falcons to a 36-30 advantage in that department.

                Sophomore forward Cecil Gresham (Bloomfield, Conn.) was the top scorer for Bryant, with nine points.

                Bentley, in addition to the stifling defense, shot 44 percent and knocked down 9 of 21 three-pointers.

                Bentley has beaten Assumption three times this season, with the regular season scores having been 75-64 (Dec. 1) and 79-66 (Feb. 19).  The two longtime rivals have not squared off in an NCAA tournament game since 1979 and will be meeting in the regional final for the first time since 1975.