WALTHAM, Mass. – Southern New Hampshire University junior forward Devin Gilligan (Amherst, N.H.) broke a 75-all tie with a straight-away three-pointer with 5:07 left and the Penmen went on to record a closely-contested 90-87 win over Bentley University in the title game of the 2016 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Championships Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center.

SNHU, the fourth seed out of the Northeast Division, will gain the conference's automatic qualifier to the upcoming NCAA Division II East Region. The Penmen improved to 22-10 with their fourth tournament win in nine days.

Meanwhile, Bentley will wait for Sunday night's NCAA selection show to see if its name is called. The Falcons, 21-8, have a strong resume as they captured the NE-10's Northeast Division championship and were fifth in this past week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings.

Bentley was led by its two All-Championship honorees and CoSIDA Academic All-Americas®, senior forward Tyler McFarland (Rockport, Maine/Camden Hills HS) and graduate student Keegan Hyland (South Portland, Maine/ South Portland HS). Hyland finished with 21 points and McFarland followed with 15.

There were ten lead changes and eight ties before Gilligan gave his team the lead for good. The score remained at 80-77 for nearly two-and-a-half minutes before sophomore forward Chris Walters (Stamford, Conn.) made it a five-point game with a pair of free throws with 2:41 left.

Bentley reduced it a one-possession game four times in the final 2:15, but each time Southern New Hampshire had an answer. Freshman guard Ryan Richmond (Toronto, Ont./Thomson Collegiate HS) knocked down a three from the left corner with 2:15, only to be matched by Penmen senior guard BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.).

McFarland dropped in a three from the left side with 1:32 to play, bringing the Falcons to within two at 85-83. After a Richmond rebound of a SNHU miss, Walters came up with a steal and made two from the stripe with 34.7 remaining for an 87-83 lead.

Senior guard Alex Furness (Wells, Maine/Wells HS) took it to the basket for a pair of lay-ups in the final 27 seconds, but both times, SNHU countered with free throws. Freshman guard Daquaise Andrews (Queens, N.Y.) hit two with 12.9 seconds and senior guard Rodney Sanders (Elizabeth, N.J.), the championship's Most Outstanding Player, made the first of two with 3.9 seconds.

Bentley sophomore forward Brandon Wheeler (Stamford, Conn./Trinity Catholic HS) grabbed the rebound but his desperation heave from midcourt to force overtime wouldn't go and the Penmen had their second NE-10 title in four years.

The Falcons' biggest lead, six, came early when triples by Furness and Hyland sparked the home team to a 10-4 lead. Eight straight by SNHU, including threes from Cardarelli and Gilligan, gave the visitors a 25-22 lead, and the Penmen stayed in front until Bentley junior guard Ferguson Duke (Dartmouth, N.S./Hun School (N.J.)) sank two from the line with 1:51 left in the first, making it 42-41.

Following four Penmen free throws, the two clubs went into the locker room knotted at 45 after junior guard Matt Barr (Stratham, N.H./Cushing Academy) drilled a three from the left corner with six seconds left until the break.

There were five lead changes in the first seven minutes of the second before Southern opened a 75-68 lead on the strength of a 12-4 run. Andrews accounted for seven of those while Bentley was beginning a stretch of nearly five-and-a-half minutes without a field goal.

That dry spell ended with a put-back by McFarland with 7:51 remaining that tied the game at 75-75. Bentley stayed close during that span by sinking nine of ten free throws.

Junior forward Adrian Oliviera (Pawtucket, R.I.) returned the lead to SNHU with an 18-footer, but Furness tied it again with two free throws with 5:30 to play.

Hyland finished 8 of 15 from the floor with three from downtown, and McFarland was 6 of 10, including three of five from deep. McFarland finished the game with 2,097 points, six shy of the school record.

Also scoring in doubles for Bentley were Furness, with 15 (along with seven rebounds), and freshman forward Kyle Bouchard (Houlton, Maine/Houlton HS), with ten off the bench. Wheeler had a solid game with nine points and six rebounds.

Walters led SNHU with 19 as he made five of seven from the floor. Cardarellii sank three of four triples on his way to 17 points, and Sanders finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while dealing with foul issues.

Both teams connected 11 times from deep but SNHU shot better overall, .517 to the Falcons' .446. The Penmen made one more free throw (19-18) and had a 36-33 rebounding edge in a game with only 14 turnovers (6 by Bentley).