WALTHAM, MA – The College of Saint Rose men's basketball team gave top-seed Bentley University all it could handle, but the Falcons outscored the Golden Knights 10-3 over the final 2:30 to pull out a 68-60 triumph in the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament tonight at the Dana Center.
The Falcons (22-6), ranked #22 in this week's NABC Division II Poll, will take on seventh-seed Adelphi University (19-10) in the title game, which is scheduled for 1:00 pm Saturday in Waltham, MA. The Panthers advanced to their first NE-10 championship tilt via a 71-60 win over sixth-seed UMass Lowell this evening.
Bentley raced out to a 19-8 lead just less than seven minutes in thanks to hot shooting from the arc. Four different players buried a 3-pointer during that span, including back-to-back treys by senior forward Brian Tracey and freshman guard Jasper Grassa that capped off the initial spurt.
Saint Rose overcame its slow start by outscoring the Falcons 17-3 over the next eight minutes to take a 25-22 lead at the 5:28 mark. The Golden Knights buried five deep balls of their own during the run, three from junior guard
Shea Bromirski. Sophomore guard
Andre Pope put the finishing touches on the jaunt with five straight points behind a jumper and a 'three' of his own.
Saint Rose actually walked into the locker room up a pair, 31-29, after limiting Bentley to just 29.0 percent (9-for-31) shooting in the opening frame. The Golden Knights canned 44.0 percent (11-for-25) of their opportunities and forced eight turnovers as well.
Pope picked up right where he left off by scoring six of the squad's first 10 points to start the second half. Saint Rose managed to open up its largest lead of the night, 41-31, with 17:51 to go after Pope drilled a 3-pointer and then hit a layup while being fouled. He hit the ensuing free throw to complete the outburst.
The Falcons would not go away however, and began to whittle away at their deficit. The Golden Knights still led by one, 50-49, after Tracey hit a pair of free throws with 9:33 on the clock. He then canned jumper from long range on Bentley's next possession that gave them the lead for good. Bromirski got Saint Rose back to within a point, 58-57, via a layup. But the Falcons closed the game on their aforementioned run to end the Golden Knights' season-long eight-game win streak.
Pope and Bromirski were the lone players in double-figures with 17 and 15 points respectively. Junior forward
Brian Hanuschak hauled in 11 rebounds and junior guard
Rob Gutierrez added nine points as well.
Tracey topped Bentley with 17 points and 10 boards, while senior guard Tom Dowling contributed 14 points.
Saint Rose, which is still expected to make its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance within the past 20 years, will await its fate until Sunday, March 6 when the field of 64 is revealed at 10:00 pm.
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