Box Score

MILTON, Mass. -- Senior guard Jaykyri Simpson (East Cleburne, Texas) made a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining, and classmate Johnnie Jefferson (Dallas, Texas) added two more with 10 ticks left, giving the University of New England a hard-fought 83-80 victory over Curry College in The Commonwealth Coast Conference men's basketball action Tuesday evening at Miller Gymnasium.

The win was the 10th straight for the Nor'easters, who improve to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play.  The Colonels now stand at 3-10, 0-2 in TCCC games.

UNE, which led by as many as 19 (43-24) in the first half, appeared to have things under control in the second half as well, holding a 69-59 advantage with just under nine minutes to play.

The Colonels answered with six straight points to close within four (69-65).  Things went back-and-forth over the next few minutes before Curry grabbed its first lead (80-79) since early in the contest on a Quashed Simmons lay-up with 58 seconds left.

Each team would come up empty on their next possession, setting up Simpson's game-winning free throws and Jefferson's insurance freebies.

Curry had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds but a Simmons three-point attempt missed the mark. 

First-year guard Victor Oruonyehu (Austin, Texas) came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points.  He was 6-for-8 from the floor, including four 3-point field goals.  Senior Steve Belmonte (Levittown, N.Y.) and first-year Quentin Thompson (Austin, Texas) each scored 11 points, and Simpson finished with 10.  Jefferson hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds.

Reserve Gerard Cohen tallied a game-high 21 points to lead Curry.  Simmons tossed in 15 points.

The Nor'easters will look to push their win streak to 11 games Saturday when they play a road contest at Salve Regina University.