WALTHAM, Mass. -- The 2010-11 edition of the Bentley University men’s basketball team will be unveiled Saturday night at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence when they take on Providence College of the Big East Conference in an exhibition game. Tip-off is slated at 7 pm.
Bentley, one of the most successful programs in Division II in recent years, is coming off a 26-7 season that saw the Falcons reach the Elite Eight for the third time in four years and the national semifinals for the second time in three seasons. This year’s club was selected for tenth in the preseason Division II national rankings in The Sporting News College Basketball magazine.
Providence, following a 12-19 season a year ago, was picked 14th in the preseason Big East Conference coaches poll. Last year, in two exhibition games against Northeast-10 Conference opponents, the Friars defeated Merrimack, 97-74, and Stonehill, 91-55.
Jay Lawson, beginning his 20th season as Bentley’s head coach, has eight of last year’s top ten back, but lost both Jason Westrol, the NABC Division II Player of the Year, and John Brandt to graduation. Westrol, number two on the program’s all-time scoring list with 2,068 points, averaged 21.1 points and Brandt provided 9.4 points a game.
This year’s club is expected to be led by a quartet of four-year players: guards Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville HS) and Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side HS) and forwards Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo./Heritage HS) and Joe Fremeau (Manchester, N.H./Central HS).
The six-foot-five Tracey is Bentley’s top returning scorer, having put up 14.6 points a game last season while also averaging close to nine rebounds. He eclipsed the 1,000-point milestone in last year’s final game and is a threat to score both inside and from out (100 career triples).
Quinn has started every game for the Falcons over the last three years and has a 7.8 lifetime scoring average, along with 179 career three-pointers.
Fremeau cracked the starting five last year and provided the Falcons with about six points and five rebounds a game. Dowling suffered through an injury-riddled season, but when healthy was a factor, averaging nearly 11 points a game.
Other returnees who project to be in Lawson’s rotation are junior forward Kevin Kettl (Hershey, Pa./Hershey HS) and a trio of sophomores: forward Dan O’Keefe (Lexington/Lexington HS) and guards Greg Jacques (Brockton/St. Sebastian’s HS) and Mike Topercer (Scottsdale, Ariz./New Hampton Prep).
Three newcomers could be in the mix for playing time. Junior guard Sam LeClerc (Fayette, Maine/Winthrop HS) has transferred from Bryant University, and the top freshmen are guard Jasper Grassa (Lynn/Lynn Classical HS) and forward Jacob Moore (Hampden, Maine/Hampden Academy).
The top returning scorers for Providence are senior wing Marshon Brooks and sophomore guard Vincent Council, who averaged 14.2 and 10.3 points, respectively, a year ago. Six-foot-nine sophomore Bilal Dixon also contributed for the Friars last season, with 8.2 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.
Providence will have a distinct height advantage over the Falcons, with six players six-foot-seven or bigger on the roster. It’s a young roster, with three seniors, no juniors and three sophomores on the 17-man squad.
The Falcons will officially open their season next weekend, Nov.12-13, when it takes on both Bloomfield College and Concordia College (N.Y.) in the Bentley Tip-Off Classic.
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