Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:49:35 +0000

WALTHAM, Mass. - Freshman Brad Tunis (Sudbury/Lincoln-Sudbury HS) scored two fourth-quarter goals, including the game-winner, to lead a Falcon comeback and help the Bentley men's lacrosse team capture a 10-9 win over Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action. The win boosted the Falcons to 4-7 (3-5 NE-10), while the Penmen fell to 3-9 (3-5 NE-10).

Southern New Hampshire jumped out to an early lead en route to a 6-3 halftime lead. After sophomore Andy Curtis (Chelmsford/Chelmsford HS) put Bentley on the board first, senior Joe Young (Derry, N.H.) struck for the Penmen to even the score. That was a familiar story over the first half as Young netted four goals, including three unanswered tallies to open the second quarter and give Southern New Hampshire a 5-2 lead. The Falcons managed only one goal, coming from Curtis, in the second quarter before the Penmen took a three-goal lead at the break.

Bentley began chipping away at the lead in the third quarter. Freshman Wyatt Couture (South Hadley/Avon Old Farms) scored a man-up goal, but was quickly matched by a score from junior John Delanoy (Lansdale, Pa.). Junior defenseman Bill McGill (Westborough/Westborough HS) got the Falcons back within two with six minutes to go in the third.

Bentley swung the game in its direction with three goals over the first five minutes of the third. After senior Dalton Van Hatcher (Tigard, Ore./Oregon Episcopal School) scored 30 seconds into the period, Tunis scored to tie the game and freshman Stephen Moulton (Danvers/Danvers HS) gave the Falcons the lead. Senior Jimmy Mumford (Oshawa, Ontario) scored for the Penmen to tie the game at eight, but sophomore Josh Friedman (Old Bethpage, N.Y./Plainview JFK HS) struck for Bentley 32 seconds later to put the Falcons on top for good. Tunis scored the eventual game-winner with 5:17 on the clock to complete the comeback and finish with a team-high four points. Delanoy added a goal to bring Southern New Hampshire back within one with 3:24 to play, but that was all the Penmen offense could muster.

The Falcons wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Syracuse, N.Y., to take on No. 3 Le Moyne at 1 p.m.

After just a one week absence, the Drury basketball Panthers are back in the NABC Top 25 NCAA Division II national poll this week at No. 22 in the rankings released on Tuesday.

Coach Steve Hesser's Panthers (22-5) return to action on Sunday, when they face Saturday's Lewis-Indianapolis winner at Weiser in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinals in a 3 p.m. start at Weiser Gym. 

The Panthers, regular season GLVC West champs for the third time in their five seasons as a member, are one of three GLVC teams represented in this week's poll. Kentucky Wesleyan is No. 4 and Southern Indiana comes in at No. 10. Wesleyan (27-3) is No. 1 in the NCAA-II Midwest Region rankings, just ahead of Drury in the ratings that come out each Wednesday and determine the field for the NCAA Tournament.

Arkansas Tech, which defeated Drury 68-63 in Russellville, Ark. on Dec. 8, is the unanimous No. 1 team in the country in the NABC poll, now sporting a 25-0 record.