Rome, Ga. - Jas Rogers made a free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining to lift second-seeded Southern Polytechnic State University to a 56-53 victory over No. 3-seed Auburn University-Montgomery in the semifinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championships on Friday evening at The Forum in Rome, Ga.

The Hornets (25-5), owners of one SSAC Tournament title, will play for a second as they advance to Saturday night's championship game against the winner of No. 1-seed Lee University and fifth-seeded Faulkner University. Auburn-Montgomery bows out with a 14-13 overall record.

Rogers, the 2009-10 SSAC Player of the Year, scored just six points on 1-of-12 shooting, but made his final tally count when it mattered most.

After AUM's Daniel Quinlan tied the score at 53 with an off-balance three-pointer from the top of the key with 11 seconds remaining, Rogers attacked the goal and drew a foul from Quinlan with 0.5 left on the clock. After missing the first freebie, Rogers connected with all net on the second, putting the Hornets ahead 54-53.

No time expired as Auburn-Montgomery threw the ball out of bounds the length of the floor on its ensuing possession, and Poly's Jordan Lemons, who led his squad with 18 points and nine rebounds, made both of his free throws to account for the final margin.

The Senators made a bold push in the second half after being dominated for much of the opening period.

Southern Poly, despite two first half fouls on Rogers, led by as much as 15 in the first stanza and went into the locker room leading 32-18. AUM made only 5-of-32 shots in the opening frame and surrendered 11 points to Southern Poly sharp shooter Xavier Dawson.

Behind SSAC Defensive Player of the Year Nathan Thomas, however, the Senators arrived in the final 20 minutes.

Thomas turned in an All-SSAC worthy performance, putting up 25 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals. For a team that struggled shooting the basketball, Thomas excelled, knocking down 7-of-12 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.

After Brent Jennings scored on Poly's opening possession of the second half to extend the Hornets' lead to 34-18, AUM embarked on a 20-5 run, crawling to within one, 39-38, on a Stephen Jordan bucket with 11:21 left.

The Senators took their first lead since 1-0 on a pair of Thomas free throws that put Auburn-Montgomery ahead, 50-48, with 3:43 left, but Jennings connected twice more from the line and Dawson converted a three-point play to give Southern Poly a 53-50 lead two minutes later and set the stage for the final sequence.

Dawson finished with 14 points for Southern Poly to go along with five rebounds. Jennings chipped in with 14 as well while adding eight rebounds and a block.