Top-Seeded and Unbeaten Bentley Rallies for 81-68 Win over Merrimack in NCAA Regional Quarters
 

                WALTHAM, Mass. – Sophomore guard Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan HS) scored a team-high 21 points, and 5-foot-11 senior Yusuf Abdul-Ali (Springfield/New Leadership Charter School) flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, as Bentley overcame its biggest deficit of the season to best Merrimack, 81-68, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Northeast Regional Saturday evening at the Dana Center.

                Bentley, the co-number one nationally , improved to 31-0 with its 61st straight win over a regional foe and will face the winner of tonight’s final quarterfinal game, fourth-seeded C.W. Post against number five Bryant, Saturday at 7:30 pm in the semis.  Merrimack, the number eight seed, closed out its campaign at 17-12.

                With Merrimack shooting the lights out in the first half (65 percent, with seven three-pointers), Bentley faced its first double-digit deficit of the season, trailing by as many as 14 (48-34) before going into intermission down a dozen, 48-36.

                Merrimack sophomore guard Darren Duncan (Briarwood, N.Y.) was a major reason why the Falcons were down so many as he had 19 points and only two missed shots (one two-pointer, one free throw) in the half, as well as six assists and five rebounds.

                Bentley’s Jay Lawson, five times the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year, said “he’s never seen a team more focused in the halftime locker room” and his team asserted themselves at the start of the second.

                The Falcons scored the first eight points to get back into the game, including four free throws by Westrol and an Abdul-Ali lay-up.

                After a mini-run by Merrimack restored the Warrior lead to ten, Bentley dominated play over the next nine-and-a-half minutes, using a 21-6 blitz to take its first lead since the opening moments, 67-62.  A lay-up by junior guard Lew Finnegan (Lexington/Lexington HS), off an Abdul-Ali dish, evened the game at 62 with 5:39 left and a long three from senior forward Nate Fritsch (Durham, N.C/Woodberry Forest HS) put the Falcons in front for good, 65-62 with five minutes exactly on the clock.

                Following an Abdul-Ali lay-up, Duncan temporarily drilled his fourth three-pointer of the night, with 3:19 left to get Merrimack back within a deuce, 67-65.

                Abdul-Ali matched Duncan’s trey with a top-of-the-key three-ball, igniting a 10-0 spurt that virtually locked up the win, making it 77-65 with 1:35 left. Finnegan had four of the ten, and Westrol drained a trey from the corner to cap it.  Bentley closed out the game by sinking four of six free throws in the final 75 seconds.

                The Bentley D, after yielding a season-high 48 points in the first half, was outstanding in the second half.  They limited the Warriors to 28 percent shooting, with only five of their 20 points coming from inside the three-point arc. The Falcons outrebounded the visitors 25-10 in the half (Abdul-Ali nearly matched the Merrimack total) and finished the game at a plus-18 (42-24).

                Westrol, in addition to 21 points, had five rebounds and three steals. Fritsch added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Finnegan contributed 11 points and six boards.

                Duncan managed only a pair of threes in the second half, but still finished with 25 points, five boards, eight assists and three steals.  He was forced into eight turns, six coming in the second half. Merrimack also received 15 points from senior guard Micky Burtnyk (Phoenix,Ariz.) and 11 from NE-10 Freshman of the Year Darin Mency (Hagerstown, Md.).

At Waltham, Mass. (Dana Center)

BENTLEY 81, MERRIMACK 68

MERRIMACK (17-12)--Darren Duncan 7-12 7-8 25; Micky Burtnyk 5-10 1-1 15; Darin Mency 4-11 2-3 11; Chris Winters 3-5 0-0 7; Gerry Corcoran 2-7 0-0 6; O. Lightfoot-Taylor 1-1 2-2 4; Jeff Hansbury 0-1 0-0 0; Jared Brownlee 0-0 0-0 0; David Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0; Chiedozie Offiah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 12-14 68.

BENTLEY (31-0)--Jason Westrol 6-14 7-9 21; Yusuf Abdul-Ali 6-13 3-3 16; Nate Fritsch 6-13 3-4 16; Lew Finnegan 3-6 5-6 11; Michael Sikonski 3-3 0-0 6; Mike Quinn 2-9 0-0 5; Brian Tracey 1-1 0-0 3; Tom Dowling 1-6 0-0 3; John Brandt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-66 18-22 81.

Halftime: M 48-36; 3-point goals--M 12-29 (Duncan 4-5; Burtnyk 4-8; Corcoran 2-7; Winters 1-2; Mency 1-5; Kennedy 0-1; Hansbury 0-1), B 7-18 (Westrol 2-5; Quinn 1-4; Fritsch 1-4; Abdul-Ali 1-1; Dowling 1-2; Tracey 1-1; Finnegan 0-1). Fouled out--Duncan. Rebounds--M 24 (Mency , Duncan 5), B 42 (Abdul-Ali 11). Assists--M 11 (Duncan 8), B 16 (Abdul-Ali 7). Total fouls--M 20, B 13. Technical fouls--None.