enlarge Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Quentin Thompson of UNE puts back an offensive rebound Thursday night in the 77-75 tournament victory against Salve Regina.

BIDDEFORD — Top-seeded University of New England came up big down the stretch Thursday night to down fourth-seeded Salve Regina 77-75 in a Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball semifinal.

The Nor'easters (24-4) will try to win their first conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament when they meet second-seeded Colby-Sawyer at home at 7 p.m. Saturday.

All season, UNE has used an aggressive man-to-man press. Thursday night, Salve Regina's press also was effective.

Between them the teams committed 60 turnovers in a game played at a frenetic pace in front of a noisy crowd of nearly 1,000 people at the Campus Center.

"They had an answer to our defensive pressure, it looked like," UNE Coach Jason Mulligan said. "We usually get out and get a lot more deflections. They're the first team that turned it on us and trapped so well all year."

But the Nor'easters made a couple of defensive stops in the final minute to win it.

"We just pulled together as a team," said Johnnie Jefferson, who scored a team-high 18 points for UNE. "We became one and said we're not going to lose this game."

The Nor'easters took a 76-73 lead when Charles Rentrope sank two free throws with 36.1 seconds left.

They were his only points of the game.

After Jabreche Boyd of Salve Regina sank two free throws with 21 seconds left to make it 76-75, Jefferson made a free throw with 3.7 seconds left to clinch it.

During the regular season, UNE beat Salve Regina 83-73 at Newport, R.I.

"We knew we were going to get their best," Jefferson said. "We didn't play our best but we played well enough. We got the job done."

Quentin Thompson, who shot 6 of 8 from the field, scored 16 points for the Nor'easters. Jackyri Simpson, who sank 8 of 11 free throws, added 12 points.

Justin Woodworth, who scored 16 points in the first half, finished with a game-high 27 for the Seahawks (14-14). Windell Hickson added 16 points.

Salve Regina held a 43-22 edge in rebounds, which enabled it to stay close.

"Salve has two of the best 3-point shooters in the conference," Mulligan said.

"We paid so much attention to taking away the (3-point shot) that we all got out on the perimeter, and we didn't rebound as well."

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com