NEW LONDON, Conn. -- Senior Noah Baldez had a game-high 22 points while classmate Justin Kane added 21 points as Coast Guard won its season best fourth straight and clinched a spot in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament for the first time since 2011 with a thrilling 102-99 win over Emerson in the regular season finale for both teams on Senior Day.

Coast Guard improves to 11-13 overall and 6-8 in the NEWMAC while the Lions close out the regular season at 14-11 overall and 7-7 in conference play.

These two teams will meet again on Wednesday night in the NEWMAC quarterfinals as the fifth-seeded Bears will visit fourth-seeded Emerson. The Lions beat Coast Guard 94-75 in the NEWMAC opener in Boston this year on January 8th.

Senior Packy Witkowski added 16 points, Garrett Drummond added 14 while senior Jason Frazer finished with 11 points as he was 3 for 3 from 3-point range in the win. Kane led the Bears with nine rebounds in the win.

Max Davis led Emerson with 20 points while Jack O'Conner (18), James Beckwith (15), Jarrred Houston (14), Nate Martin (14) and Zach Waterhouse (10) were also in double figures for Emerson. O'Connor finished with a double-double as he had a game-high 10 rebounds to go with a game-high eight assists.

Emerson had its largest lead of the first half 43-35 with 4:15 left before Coast Guard used a 13-2 spurt which included a pair of treys by Frazer and was capped on five straight points by Witkowski as the Bears took a 48-45 lead with 2:21 left. Emerson led 55-52 at the break.

The teams went back-and-forth with neither taking more than a four point lead until O'Connor's layup with 6:51 left gave the Lions an 88-83 lead.

Coast Guard would go on 10-2 spurt taking a 93-90 lead with 4:09 left. Davis' trey tied the game 93-93 with 3:25 left before Drummond's gave Coast Guard a 95-93 lead with 3:25 remaining.

O'Connor's bucket with 1:24 left tied the game before Drummond hit a huge 3-pointer with 1:10 left giving the Bears the lead for good 98-85 with 1:10 left.

Following a layup by O'Connor with 15 seconds left, Baldez made a pair of free throws for a 100-97 lead with 14 ticks left.

Waterhouse added a layup with six seconds left before Drummond's layup as time expired lifted the Bears into the NEWMAC tournament.

Coast Guard shot 52.8 percent (38-72) while Emerson was 38 of 69 (55.1 percent) from the field. Both teams hit 13 of 25 from 3-point range.