WALTHAM, Mass. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball tied the game late after trailing by 24 points, but the hosts from Bentley University pulled out a 77-71 victory on Wednesday to claim sole possession of first place in the Northeast-10 Conference.

The Hawks, who downed nationally-ranked Bentley by a 78-73 margin earlier this season, drop to 14-5 overall and to 10-3 versus the NE10. The Falcons own first place in the NE10 outright, improving to 16-2 overall and 11-2 against league opponents.

Senior Miles Tention (Palo Alto, Calif.) scored 28 points, shooting 10-for-20 (50.0%) from the floor, and handed out four assists while classmate Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.) scored 18 points. Junior Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) reeled in a career-high 18 rebounds, scoring nine points – he is the first student-athlete with as many caroms since Chris Paul '22 (18 vs. Franklin Pierce, 11/23/19).

Ranked as high as No. 9 in NCAA Division II according to the D2SIDA National Media Poll, Bentley built up a sizeable 24-point lead in the game over the No. 22-ranked Hawks, thanks to scoring 35 of the game's 40 points over a 15-plus minute stretch spanning the halves.

Staring at a large deficit, Saint Anselm was able to settle itself into a dominant 50-to-28 scoring run, dramatically tying the game at 69 with 91 seconds left in regulation. The Hawks could not take the lead, turning the ball over twice as Bentley, who lost its last home game after seeing a 27-point bulge evaporate, racked up eight of the game's final 10 points to hold on for the victory.

To start the game, Saint Anselm went ahead by a 14-6 margin to force a Bentley timeout. From that point, the Hawks made just two of their next 22 shots and committed six turnovers while the hosts shot nearly 50% from the floor, connecting on seven of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc. Bentley committed only one turnover, coming on an offensive foul.

Both teams were 9-for-23 (39.1%) from beyond the arc, but the hosts shot 44.6% from the floor while a huge second half could not push Saint Anselm's overall field goal percentage north of 41%. The Hawks controlled the glass, 41-to-37, but could not overcome 12 miscues that led to 16 Bentley points.

Winners of 12 out of its last 14 games, Saint Anselm will look to rebound on the road against Adelphi on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3:30 p.m.