SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Trailing 42-32 with just under 12 minutes remaining, second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University turned up the defensive pressure and outscored No. 6 seed University of the Sciences 27-11 the rest of the way to post a 59-53 win in the semifinal round of the 2015 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship East Regional Sunday evening at Butova Gymnasium.  The Penmen improve to 23-7 and advance to Tuesday's regional title game, their first regional final appearance since 1997, while the Devils, who were making their first-ever NCAA appearance, finish the season 25-6.

Southern New Hampshire will face No. 5 seed Southern Connecticut State University in Tuesday night's regional final at 7:00 pm after the Owls topped top seed and host American International College.  The Penmen dropped their lone meeting with the Owls.  The game will be at AIC's Butova Gymnasium.

Southern New Hampshire was led by senior Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro), who finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six steals, totaling 12 of his 16 points in the second half.  Junior Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) was 6-8 from the floor and totaled 14 points and seven rebounds, while BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) was 3-6 behind the arc and added 11 points and six rebounds.

East Region Player of the Year Garrett Kerr led USciences with 34 points and 12 rebounds, going 13-25 from the floor while also adding two assists and a pair of steals.  Sho Da-Silva was the other Devil in double figures with 11 points off the bench.

USciences led right out of the gate, scoring the game's first eight points and owning a 32-23 halftime lead.  The Devils led by 10, 42-32, with just under 11 minutes left following a basket by Da-Silva, when four straight points at the line by Dobrovic cut the lead to six at the 10:11 mark.  Kerr hit a three at 9:42 to make it 45-36, but Max Taylor (Shokan, N.Y.) answered with a triple from the left corner to make it 45-39 with 9:31 left.

Southern New Hampshire outscored the Devils 11-3 over the next six minutes and a pair of free throws by Dobrovic at the 3:23 mark gave SNHU its first lead, 50-49.  Wes Kerr made a pair at the line to reclaim the lead for USciences at the 2:40 mark, but after an empty SNHU trip, Dobrovic came up with a steal and found Sanders in the open front court for a slam and a 52-51 lead.

Coming out of a timeout, Da-Silva converted a driving layup with 1:16 left to put the Devils up 53-52.  With 41 seconds remaining, Cardarelli delivered a dagger, with his three making it 55-53 in favor of the Penmen.  Garret Kerr misfired on a go-ahead three and Dobrovic corralled the rebound, but he would miss the front end of a one-and-one.  Garret Kerr took another three from the right side, but was falling away with a defender in his face, and Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) grabbed the carom.  Bonsignore made two at the charity stripe and following a turnover, Sanders punctuated the victory with another dunk.

Southern New Hampshire shot just 37.5% from the floor, its second-lowest shooting performance of the season, and went 6-20 behind the arc, but took four more trips to the free throw line and went 11-17 while USciences went 10-13.  The Devils shot just 28% in the second half and 37.7% for the game, going 3-10 from behind the arc, but held a 40-31 rebound advantage.  The Penmen defense forced twice as many turnovers as SNHU committed, with the Devils committing 14 giveaways that led to a 12-3 advantage for the higher seed in points off turnovers.

SNHU is making the ninth regional final appearance in program history and has six NCAA regional titles to its credit, the last coming in 1995.  The Penmen are 6-2 all-time in regional finals and fell 80-61 to Southern Connecticut in their last appearance in 1997.

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