MANCHESTER, NH – Graduate Transfer Matt Leritz (St.Louis, Mo./St.Louis University HS) Corralled 19 rebounds and was one of four Falcons to score in doubles as Bentley University en route to a 78-60 win over Southern New Hampshire University in Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball at Stan Spirou Field House on Tuesday night never lagged behind.
junior guard Zach Laput (Beacon Falls, Conn./Notre Dame HS) led the Falcons in scoring with 21 points, including 16 in the second half. Leritz completed his first double-double as a falcon with 14 points, and both completed guards Brian Wright-Kinsey (Brooklyn, NY/Brooks School) and Mason Webb (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma/Bishop McGuinness) added 13. Wright-Kinsey was also credited with four blocked shots.
Bentley, recovering from their first loss of the season, improved to 3-1 overall, including a 1-1 conference. SNHU saw their three-game winning streak end, falling to 3-2 overall (1-1 NE10).
Coach Jay Lawson’s team built a nine-point lead 19-10 in less than seven minutes, with Wright-Kinsey taking the seven-point lead.
Eight straight points extended the lead to 15, 35-20 with five minutes remaining in the first half. senior forward Isaac Martin (Atlanta, Georgia/Norcross HS) knocked down a three from the right wing and freshman guard Cash McClure (Readfield, Maine/Maranacook HS) scored the next five, including a straight three. McClure’s eight points was a career best.
It was a ten-point game at halftime after SNHU sophomore guard Ethan Okwuosa (North Haven, Conn.) ended a run of seven straight points by sinking a three-pointer from backcourt at the buzzer.
That would be the Penmen’s last points for nearly seven minutes as Bentley scored the first 17 points of the second half to extend the lead to 27, 60-33. Laput and Leritz led the charge with eight and five points, respectively. Meanwhile, SNHU missed 11 consecutive shots during that period.
SNHU cut the difference to 14 with six and a half minutes left, but didn’t get any closer.
Rebounds finished with Bentley up 20, 49-29. Adding to Leritz’s big night on the boards, both Wright-Kinsey and Laput grabbed eight each.
Bentley passed the penmen by 44-37 percent and had a big advantage on the foul line, 20-5 in makes and 26-6 in tries. Laput converted eight of 11 and Webb was perfect on six tries.
The top scorer for SNHU was Vermont transfer Evan Guillory (Springfield, Mo.) with 16.
After four games without Waltham, Bentley will open the home game schedule this weekend with games against Dominican University (NY) on Saturday and Sunday after university.