MANCHESTER, N.H.- The eighth seeded Caldwell University men's basketball team's magical run came to an end on Sunday evening as they fell to fourth seed University of New Haven 77-56 in the 2023 NCAA Division II East Region Semifinals.
 
The Cougars outstanding season ends at 22-10, while the Chargers advance to Tuesday's East Region Final against #2 Bentley University.
 
New Haven scored the first eight points of the game on their way to building a 31-10 lead with 6:16 left in the opening half. Caldwell pulled to within 15 at 35-20 at the 1:46 mark following a jumper by sophomore Mark Heber (Paterson, N.J.).
 
The Charger pushed ahead late in the half to lead 40-20 at halftime.
 
New Haven netted the first six points of the second half as they led by as much as 46-20 early in the half. Caldwell answered as freshman Landon Shivers (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) drained a triple as the Cougars cut the score to 46-27 with 15:31 left in the game.
 
The Chargers pushed their lead back to 24 points but Heber connected from downtown as part of a run to pull to within 57-36 at the 11:08 mark.
 
The Cougars mounted a final run of 14-5 paced by a pair of trifectas from Heber. Freshman Darnell Evans (Deer Park, N.Y.) capped the run with a jumper with 7:48 remaining in the game to cut the score to 62-50. New Haven answered with a run as they maintained their lead down the stretch.
 
Heber led the way with 15 points and four assists, while Evans totaled 10 points, three boards and two steals. Sophomore Derrick Bueno (Palisades Park, N.J.) totaled nine points and 10 rebounds.