The Chargers led by as many as 16 points on Andrew St. Clair's (Pittsfield, Maine) jumper with 17:47 to play, but the Anchormen slowly chipped away at the lead, doing much of their damage from beyond the three-point line. Rhode Island College hit 9-of-15 from three-point range in the second half, four of those by Kamari Williams (Springfield, Mass.), who finished with a team-high 23 points.
The Anchormen took their first lead of the game with 2:55 to play on a three by Kinsey Durgin (Greenwood, Maine), putting RIC up 75-74. The Chargers answered on a three by Collin Bray (Brookline, Mass.), only to have Rhode Island tie the game on the other end on a layup by Andre Daley (Boston, Mass.).
Chris Condon (Reading, Mass.) put the Chargers back up by two, 79-77, with 1:17 to play, but Williams hit a pair of free throws on the other end to knot the score at 79. Bray would miss a layup with 38 seconds left and Williams snared the defensive rebound, setting up Payette's game-winning drive from the top of the key.
The Colby-Sawyer pair of Condon and St. Clair proved nearly unstoppable down low, as they combined for 54 of Colby-Sawyer's 79 points. At halftime, Condon had 20 points and St. Clair 10, accouting for three-quarters of Colby-Sawyer's 40 points at the break. St. Clair led all scorers with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Condon added 26 points of his own to go along with three boards and three blocked shots.
Williams led RIC with 23 points, with Payette adding 18 and Daley 11 for the Anchormen.
Colby-Sawyer's season ends with a 21-7 record, while Rhode Island College moves to 20-8 and will play at Wheaton on Saturday for the ECAC Division III New England Championship.