Men’s Basketball Falls in Double Overtime Thriller 79-76 to Bentley

BROOKVILLE, NY – Jason Westrol hit a three-pointer with two seconds remaining, giving Bentley the thrilling 79-76 double overtime victory over Merrimack Sunday in the NCAA regional semifinals.

With the win, second-ranked Bentley advances to Tuesday’s regional final at 7 p.m. against the winner of #1 C.W. Post/#4 Assumption. The Warriors, who won a school record 16 conference games and won their first tournament game since 1991, finish the season 21-9.

Darin Mency (Hagerstown, MD) led the Warriors with 29 points, tying his career high, and 11 rebounds, marking his second double-double in as many tournament games
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The Warriors led by five in the second overtime at 72-67 after two baskets from Darren Duncan (Briarwood, NY), but the Falcons answered behind Westrol, who scored the final 10 points for Bentley. Westrol regained the lead for the Falcons with a short jumper with 40 seconds to play, but Merrimack countered as Duncan found Craig Woehnker (Colts Neck, NJ), who hit the layup to tie the game at 76 with 21 seconds left.

That set the stage for Westrol again, who delivered a three with two seconds remaining. Duncan’s desperate mid courter at the buzzer was short, giving the Falcons the incredible victory and sending them to their third straight regional title game.

In the first overtime, the Falcons led by as much as seven with 1:25 remaining, but a lay-up from Mency and a three from Duncan cut it to two. After Westrol made one of two free throws, Mency drilled a three, tying the score at 67 with 28 seconds to play. Bentley had the final possession but turned it over, and Duncan’s prayer from behind midcourt was short, sending the game to double overtime, Merrimack’s first double overtime affair since 2003.

Bentley trailed by four at the half, but recovered, taking the lead three minutes in with a basket from Lew Finnegan. The Falcons scored 11 of the first 13 points in the second and limited Merrimack to just seven points in the first 10:12 of the final frame. Merrimack hung around, despite making just one second-half three in 11 attempts and shot 26.7% overall from the field on 8-of-30 shooting.

After two free throws from Tom Dowling with three minutes to play, the Falcons appeared to have the game in hand, taking a nine-point lead at 55-46. But the Warriors never quit, as they rattled off eight straight points, capped off with a drive from Roland Davis (Deer Park, NY) to cut the lead to one at 55-54. But the Falcons countered, as Mike Quinn hit a tough jumper as the shot clock expired to extend the lead to three with 30 seconds remaining.

On the next possession, Duncan incredibly tied the game as the junior drove to the hoop, hit an incredible shot and was fouled. He then hit the free throw to tie the game at 57 with 19 seconds to play. The Falcons had the final shot, but Jason Westrol’s three was short, sending the game to overtime.

The Warriors used a tenacious first-half defense to take a 31-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. They forced 11 turnovers and limited Bentley to just 10-of-26 shooting from the field. A three from Mency with 1:30 remaining gave the Warriors the four-point advantage, which proved to be the largest lead of the half for either team.

Duncan finished with 21 points, seven boards and six assists, while Jared Brownlee (Portland, ME) added 10 off the bench. The Warriors shot just 38% overall and 28.6% from three-point range and were outrebounded 54-38.

Westrol’s 22 points led the Falcons, who had five players in double figures. Brian Tracey posted a double-double, playing 40 minutes off the bench, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 boards.

The Falcons did a great job of limiting the Warriors’ trips to the line as Duncan who tied career-highs with 17 free throws and 20 attempts in Saturday’s overtime win over Lowell, did not get to the line until 5:08 to play in the game.