WALTHAM, Mass. – The American International College men's basketball team's struggles continued Tuesday night as the Yellow Jackets suffered a 65-57 loss at Bentley University in a Northeast-10 contest at the Dana Center.

The Falcons improved to 7-7 overall and 5-5 in the NE-10, while AIC fell to 5-9 overall and 2-8 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets have now lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.

WALTHAM, Mass. – The American International College men's basketball team's struggles continued Tuesday night as the Yellow Jackets suffered a 65-57 loss at Bentley University in a Northeast-10 contest at the Dana Center.

The Falcons improved to 7-7 overall and 5-5 in the NE-10, while AIC fell to 5-9 overall and 2-8 in conference play. The Yellow Jackets have now lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.

The two teams battled back and forth in the opening stage of the first half and Bentley held a 12-11 lead before eight minutes in before exploding for a 17-0 run that that gave it what appeared the be a commanding 29-11 lead with 6:21 remaining in the opening frame. The Yellow Jackets managed to get right back in the game however, closing the first half with a 16-4 run that pulled them back within six at the break, 33-27.

The two teams exchanged buckets for most of the second half and AIC eventually managed to draw even when junior point guard Spencer Braithwaite's (Dorchester, Mass.) layup knotted the score at 49 with 7:12 remaining in the game. Junior guard Jasper Grassa (Lynn, Mass.) then drained a three that put Bentley ahead for good and started a 10-2 run for the Falcons that was capped by a pair of free throws from freshman forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine),giving them a 59-51 with 1:32 to go.

Sophomore guard Jason Perrier (Bridgeport, Conn.) then drained a three to bring AIC back within five on the next trip down the floor, but the Yellow Jackets had to foul in the closing minute and Bentley hit all six of its free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Grassa scored a game-high 19 points with four rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead the Falcons, while freshman guard Shakir Phelps (Linden, N.J.) netted 12 points with six boards. McFarland just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high 10 boards.

Senior guard Ricky Hudson (Sewell, N.J.) also scored a game-high 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field to lead AIC, while junior guard Janek Schmidkunz (Berlin, Germany) poured in 17 points in 6-of-12 shooting from the floor with five threes. Perrier finished the game with 11 points and five rebounds.

Both teams made 22 shots from the field, while the Yellow Jackets had an 11-7 shooting advantage from downtown, but it was not enough to overcome a 12-point deficit at the line. Bentley was 14-for-17 at the stripe, while the Yellow Jackets made two of their three free throw attempts.

AIC will next host a Northeast-10 contest against Saint Michael's College Saturday, January 19, at 3:30 p.m. at Henry A. Butova Gymnasium.