BOSTON -- Cesar Fulcar and John-Michael Fragnoli combined for 41 points on 16-for-20 shooting to power fourth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology to a 70-61 win over eighth-seeded University of New England in the semifinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Thursday evening (Feb. 26) at Tansey Gymnasium.

The Leopards advance to Saturday's title game and will travel to Beverly, Mass. to face second-seeded Endicott College, an 87-80 overtime winner over third-seeded Eastern Nazarene College.

Fulcar tossed in 21 points on a 7 of 9 effort from the floor, including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Fragnoli scored 20 on 9-for-11 accuracy. Nico Donato added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Leopards (14-13), who shot 55.1 percent (27 of 49) for the contest.

CJ Autry paced UNE (8-19) with 15 points and a game-best nine boards. He made 5 of 9 field goal attempts, including all four of his shots from three-point territory. Devin Thompson and Evrim Ozkan scored 11 points apiece. Thompson also contributed four steals and three assists. Drew Coveney played a strong floor game with six assists and four steals.

The opening 13 minutes of the contest featured 11 lead changes until the Leopards established a bit of momentum to close the half. Trailing 22-21 with 7:35 remaining, Wentworth scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 30-25 cushion into intermission. Fragnoli hit back-to-back buckets to cap an 8-0 run during that surge. 

The Leopards would seize control in the early stages of the second stanza, outscoring UNE 17-5 over the initial 4:43 to build a 17-point lead (47-30). Fulcar had a pair of treys and a conventional three-point play to help ignite the run.

Big Blue chipped away and got as close as six (63-57) with just under two minutes remaining, but Wentworth made 5 of 7 at the free throw line down the stretch to help hold off the Nor'easters.

Wentworth shot 61.9 percent (13 of 21) after halftime, and out-rebounded the Nor'easters by five (36-31) for the contest. Both teams were strong with the ball, with UNE committing just seven turnovers and the Leopards 12.

Wentworth will be making its second title game appearance in the last five years. The Leopards suffered a 68-58 overtime setback to Salve Regina University in 2011.