Malden Catholic’s quest for a three-peat is alive.

Trailing by two with less than 10 seconds to go, Somerset Berkley’s three-point attempt from the wing rimmed out and No. 1 Malden Catholic held on for a 50-48 win over the No. 4 Raiders in the Div. 2 State Semifinals on Monday night at UMass Boston.

Ben Howard led the Lancers with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Malden Catholic will look to win its third consecutive Div. 2 title this weekend at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. The Lancers will play the winner of Bedford and Sharon set for Tuesday night.

“Some of these kids have never lost a playoff game. That matters a bit when things get tight,” Malden Catholic coach John Walsh said. “Credit to (Somerset Berkley) for battling and making it tough on us. Our kids have that winning experience.”

For the entirety of the state tournament to date, the Lancers (15-9) had defeated each of their first three opponents by 17 points or more. The Lancers looked poised to do that once again when a Drexier Pierre layup gave them a 34-22 lead midway through the third quarter.

Somerset got within striking distance courtesy of five points from Mason Medeiros, but Messiah Johnson and Howard combined for eight points to push the Lancer lead back to 42-31 heading into the fourth. Malden Catholic remained ahead by 11, 44-33, with five minutes left but Brendan McDonald and Medeiros combined for a 7-0 to trim the deficit to 46-40 with two minutes left.

Moments later, with their full court pressure on, the Raiders converted a pair of steals and scores to cut the lead to 46-44. Down by five with 15 seconds remaining, MacDonald buried a triple to get his team within a pair.

“Earlier in my career I would have worried about not playing in close games as of late going down the stretch,” said Walsh, who has won five state championships. “But the truth is that it really does not matter there. You have to execute and for a stretch we did not. Truthfully, we’re very fortunate.”

The Lancers then missed two at the charity stripe, giving Somerset a chance at a last-second win. The Raiders’ three-point attempt went long, however, sending the Lancers back to the title game.