BOX SCORE ALBANY, N.Y. - The University of New Haven men's basketball team dropped its final game of the 2011-12 regular season 70-73 to the College of Saint Rose Tuesday night. Despite the loss, the Chargers earned their first Northeast-10 Conference Championship tournament berth and the team's first postseason berth since the 2006-07 season. With the loss, UNH fell to 14-12 overall and 10-12 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Golden Knights improved to 7-19 overall and 7-15 in conference play.

New Haven earned the 10th seed in the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Championship tournament with its 10-12 conference mark. The opening round will take place on Friday, February 24 at 7 p.m. The Chargers will travel to seventh seed Pace University for its opening round game with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals against Adelphi University.

Nearly two minutes into Tuesday's game Saint Rose scored the game's first points. A minute and a half later, the Chargers took an eight-point lead after a 10-0 sparked by an Ade Barek (London, England/West Catholic / Saint Petersburg College) layup. At the 12:30 mark, UNH led 14-7 after a Sean Harris (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) bucket. The Golden Knights answered with a 12-2 run and took a three-point lead with 7:56 left in the first half. The Chargers tied the score twice in the final six minutes of the half, but Saint Rose pulled further away down the stretch of the first half. A 5-1 run in the final four minutes gave Saint Rose a nine-point, 35-26, lead at halftime.

Ignited by a Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) three-pointer two minutes into the second half, the Chargers went on an 8-0 run to cut the Golden Knights lead to just one point, 39-38. Four minutes later, Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) put in a layup to give New Haven its first and only lead of the second half, 44-43. Saint Rose immediately answered with a 6-0 run to regain the advantage. With just under five minute remaining, the Golden Knights improved their lead to 10 points and would again lead by double digits at the 2:05 mark. UNH went on a 13-6 run to close the game and came up three-points short as time expired.

UNH turned the ball over 19 times in Tuesday's game. The Chargers also held a 36-27 advantage on the boards.

Jeffery Adkins (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) and Justin Exum (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) each led the Chargers with 15 points. Ade Barek (London, England/West Catholic / Saint Petersburg College) added 11 points in the loss.

New Haven will travel to Pleasantville, N.Y. for Friday night's game. For complete coverage of Friday's game, stay posted to www.NewHavenChargers.com.