BENTLEY COLLEGE: Chan has a field day for Falcons

Bentley senior Kevin Chan, a Newton North alumnus, has been named the Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Week in the Northeast-10 Conference following his outstanding performance in Saturday's season-opening Northeastern Husky Winter Carnival.

In his season debut, Chan was fifth among 56 entrants in the shot put, with a throw of 46 feet, 6 inches. He missed the indoor season last winter due to injury after setting a school record in the shot as a sophomore (48 feet, 3 inches).

The conference's Weekly Honor roll included two Bentley runners, sophomore Dan Darcy and Samantha Robbins. Darcy was sixth of 66 in the mile, with a personal best time of 4:21.92, and Robbins was ninth of 40 in the 3,000 meters, with her time of 10:47.90 also a personal record.

Basketball
Bentley travels to Bryant
The Bentley men's basketball team, ranked No.°1 nationally in Division II, will put its undefeated record on the line tonight against the conference team that has given it the most trouble since the start of 2006, Bryant University.

Game time at Bryant's Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I. is 7:30 p.m.

Bentley, 32-1 a year ago, is off to a 6-0 start this season, including four Northeast-10 victories, most recently 75-64 over Assumption on Saturday. The Falcons have won their last 33 regular season games and 27 straight regular season conference games.

Bryant, in its last Northeast-10 season before moving to Division I next year, has split its first six games, alternating losses and wins. Both victories have come at home, 55-53 over Franklin Pierce and 70-52 against UMass-Lowell.

Since New Year's Day 2006, coach Jay Lawson's team has loss only two regular season games, and both came against Bryant that year, 77-63 on Jan. 5 and 88-78 in double overtime Feb. 18. The Falcons' biggest scare during last year's perfect regular season came at Bryant, when Bentley overcame a 17-point deficit in the final eight minutes to win by two, 78-76.

That was one of four Bentley victories over Bryant last year. Two came in the postseason, 85-74 in the Northeast-10 semis and 63-54 in the NCAA regional final, a win that sent the Falcons to their first-ever Elite Eight.

After having its winning streak snapped at four on Saturday by Assumption, the Bentley women's basketball team will be looking to bounce back tonight when it takes on Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

Bentley, which was ranked ninth nationally in Division II before the 19-point loss to Assumption (64-45), is currently 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the Northeast-10. Stonehill, which the Falcons will host on Saturday, is the only NE-10 team that has yet to suffer a conference loss, and Bentley is one of five that is off to a 3-1 start.

Bryant, which features talented sophomore Kelsey O'Keefe (nearly 16 points and seven rebounds a game), is off to a 3-2 start, including 2-2 in the conference. Following back-to-back losses to Franklin Pierce and Assumption, the Division I-bound Bulldogs crushed UMass-Lowell by 34 on Saturday.

The two teams split two games last winter, with Bryant's 63-51 victory last Feb. 3 its first-ever in a regular season meeting against the Falcons, as well as its first-ever win over Bentley at home. The Falcons lead the all-time series, 60-5, including 24-1 at Bryant. Barring a visit in the postseason, it will be Bentley's final trip to Smithfield as the Bulldogs will be shifting from the Northeast-10 to the Northeast Conference after this year.