Bentley, ranked seventh in the preseason NABC Division II coaches poll, dropped its two season-opening tournament games by a total of five points. Concordia bounced back after a first-round loss to Merrimack, giving interim coach Brian Sondey his first career victory.
Eason finished with 20 points and 14 boards, including six at the offensive end, and Gil produced 22 points and 10 boards. Both players also delivered four assists in a game that saw the Clippers dominate the Falcons on the boards, 48-29. Eighteen of those were offensive, resulting in 18 second-chance points.
Senior forward Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo./Heritage HS) led the way for Bentley, finishing with a game-high 25 points (on 10-of-14 shooting) and five rebounds, all coming at the offensive end. Guard Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville HS), a graduate student, followed with 15 points and five boards, and junior guard Sam Leclerc (Fayette, Maine/Winthrop HS) sank four triples off the bench for a dozen points.
Bentley led most of the first half and extended its 48-46 halftime advantage to six, 54-48, after starting the second half with a 6-2 spurt that included a pair of baskets from senior guard Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side HS).
The Falcons managed only two baskets and two free throws over the next 6:50 and fell behind the visitors by five at 66-61. Consecutive three balls from Leclerc restored the Bentley lead at 70-68, and another triple, this one from Quinn, made it 73-71 Falcons with 8:33 left.
After Concordia came back to take a five-point advantage, 81-76 with about three minutes on the clock, Tracey hit a jumper and a trey to even the score at 81 apiece with 1:47 left. Sophomore guard Brandon Whitaker (Harlem, N.Y.) answered with an 8-foot jumper, putting Concordia up 83-81 with 1:23 to play.
Dowling missed a potential go-ahead three for Bentley with 48 seconds left and the Falcons committed two costly turnovers in the final 18 seconds. Sophomore guard Lavor Morris (Bronx, N.Y.), credited with the steal on both of those turns, made two free throws with 13.9 seconds to make it a four-point game, and a free throw by Eason with 6.2 on the clock capped the Concordia scoring. A Tracey tip-in at the buzzer accounted for the final score.
Concordia, which struggled through an 8-19 season a year ago, also received 15 points from Whitaker and 14 from Morris.
Concordia had the shooting advantage overall, 48-44 percent, and made eight more free throws, 17-9. The Clippers also had a 19-14 edge in points off turnovers despite committing five more (17 to the Falcons’ 12).
Bentley will conclude its three-game homestand and open its Northeast-10 schedule on Wednesday against 22th-ranked Merrimack. The Warriors ran their record to 2-0 in the tournament’s earlier game, shooting past Bloomfield College, 110-81.
Junior forward Aaron Strothers (Wareham) had a career game, hitting 14 of 16 from the floor en route to 32 points and 14 points. Senior teammate Darin Mency (Hagerstown, Md.) actually outscored him, netting 34 points with six three-pointers.
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