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SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- It wasn't supposed to be this way. After all, he was shifting over from the shooting guard spot to the point position. And with the basketball in his hands, he had not only more scorers in the stable around him, but a better team too.

``That's what I thought too, that I wouldn't be scoring as much, but my average is actually up because the defenses are so concerned about the other guys that it opens up the floor for me,'' said Tim Forbes, the former Attleboro High Bombardier, now working his magic in the backcourt for the No. 9 nationally ranked Bentley College Falcons.

Bentley claimed its 13th victory overall of the season, its ninth straight, in improving to a Northeast 10 Conference-leading 7-0 with an 76-69 victory over Bryant University Thursday.

``Everything is kind of clicking,'' added Forbes, a junior, who was recently named the MVP of the Tangerine Tournament in Florida virtually a month after being selected to the all-tournament team at the season-opening Disney Classic in Orlando.

Forbes leads Bentley in scoring with an 18.6 point average, the sixth best mark in the Northeast 10. He ranks No. 1 conference-wide in field goals made (44), No. 4 in minutes (an average of 34.79), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.449) and seventh in free throw percentage (.868). And he is within 31 points of reach the 1000-point career scoring plateau.