Just under 2 1/2 minutes remained when the final shot of Davontrey Thomas' (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) afternoon rattled home. He turned to the University of New Haven student section and a smile appeared on his face as it was clear that the Chargers would live to play another day.

Multiple spirited comebacks by visiting Southern Connecticut State had the UNH faithful a little bit anxious. However, Thomas had 11 points during the game-deciding run to lift the fourth-seeded Chargers to the 75-59 victory on Sunday as New Haven advances to the Northeast-10 semifinals to face top-seeded Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday.

"This is what everybody lives for," said Thomas, who had 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. "It was a great college basketball game with great fans, so it was fun."

The Owls never led in the game. However, that almost changed with less than 14 minutes to play when a 3-pointer by Ulyen Coleman rattled in and out after he had tied the game with a 3-pointer.

A 3-pointer by New Haven's Sean Braithwaite (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches) was answered by a Sean James 3 to tie the game again.

From that point on, the experience of the Chargers in NE10 tournaments showed up.

Along with three clutch 3-pointers from Thomas, Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) had seven points, Lane had four points when he wasn't setting up his teammates as New Haven (19-9) began to pull away.

"We have a lot of returning players," said Lane, who finished with 15 points, nine assists and only one turnover. "We have all been in those situations where there is a lot of energy in the gym. Having that experience allowed us to calm down, play our game and execute down [the stretch]."

Perry hit four early 3-pointers with the Chargers taking their first double-digit lead on a pair of Majur Majak (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./) free throws with 13:26 left to play.

The lead grew to 13 after back-to-back baskets by Thomas. However, with New Haven missing six of its last nine shots of the half, the Owls chipped away at the lead. A 3-pointer by Logan Bashaw pulled Southern Connecticut State within two points with 44 seconds left before Quashawn Lane (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic Academy) beat the buzzer to give New Haven the four-point lead at halftime.

"We played our best game of the year," New Haven coach Ted Hotaling. "Our best players played phenomenal. I thought we played our most complete game and at this time of the year your best players have to play the best."

The offense was clicking for most of the games as the Chargers shot 59% and 56% from 3-point range.

Majak had 11 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots. Perry had 14 points and Victor Olawoye (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial High School) had 11 points and two steals.

Coleman led the Owls with 19 points and eight rebounds and James finished with 13 points for Southern Connecticut (18-12).

The Chargers saved their best for their final home game of the season.

"Every time we play Southern, there is always a lot of atmosphere and everybody is pumped up to play," Lane said. "We definitely expect the energy [from the Owls] and expect them not to fall off and try to get the win for themselves."

New Haven will need to win on the road to win the NE10 tournament for the first time. It starts with the game at Southern New Hampshire. If the Chargers win, they would be on the road again to play Saint Anselm or Bentley in Saturday's championship game.