Pfeiffer (26-4) survived 99-95.

“At halftime, we were in terrific shape,” said Pfeiffer coach Dave Davis, who watched his team fritter away a 16-point halftime lead. “We knew they had to be exhausted and thought we’d come out and punish them in the second half. They played Thursday (a win over St. Andrews) and we didn’t. But they mounted an unbelievable comeback.”

In the closing minutes, the Tigers sliced a 23-point Pfeiffer lead all the way down to two.

Salem-Teikyo’s comeback would have been complete, if not for the late-game heroics of Shakil Brew, Terrence Baxter and Emory Smith.

The once huge lead melted to 91-89 with 1:12 left to play, and the pro-Tiger crowd was roaring. But Brew silenced them, when he canned the Falcons’ first field goal in over five minutes to put Pfeiffer ahead 93-89. Baxter and Smith then combined for six free throws over the final 50 seconds, as the Falcons held on.

“I think that Shakil’s late shot was one of the big plays of the game,” said Davis.

“And both Emory and Terrence were awesome all night. Their free throws were the difference.”

To say that Baxter’s performance was “awesome” may be an understatement. The point guard netted 18 points, dished out 14 assists, made only one turnover and had five steals on a bum knee.

“Terrence’s will to win was tremendous,” said Davis. “His heart was big, just as it’s been all year.”

Early in the contest, no one imagined it would come down to free throws.

It was 14-14, when Nem Sovic (18 points) and Dwayne Bell led a Pfeiffer surge to a 29-21 lead.

Then came a Falcon spurt that pushed the bulge to 45-30.

Three deep 3s by Smith keyed that run.

“They were turning the ball over and we were getting easy baskets,” said Davis.

The easy baskets kept coming in the second half, as Pfeiffer’s lead grew to as many as 23 points.

But then Salem-Teikyo caught its second wind.

“Their experience helped them,” said Davis.

“None of our guys have ever been in an NCAA Tournament and a lot of their guys have. We got tense as the game got closer. Hopefully, we’ll learn from the experience.”

The win gives the Falcons a berth in tonight’s East Regional championship game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Gametime is 7:30.

SALEM-TEIKYO(95) —Jenkins 21, Thompson 11, Butler 7, Dinkins 14, Blyden 13, McCullough 13, Blunt 3, Frager 13..

PFEIFFER(99) —.Baxter 18, Smith 20, Mason 4, Jackson 5, Bell 5, Sovic 18, Buff, Brew 13, Sprude 2, Moody 14.

Salem-Teikyo 37 58 — 95

Pfeiffer 53 46 — 99

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DIVISION IIWOMEN: Presbyterian, the top seed in the South Atlantic Regional on their home floor, lost in Friday’s semifinals to Francis Marion 82-79.

Presbyterian entered the tournament 28-1, the only loss coming to Catawba.

Francis Marion, which defeated Lander in the opener , will take on Columbus State, a 82-72 winner over Kennesaw State.

Kennesaw State had advanced with a win over Livingstone the previous night.

DIVISIONIIMEN: The South Atlantic Conference and CIAA is finished as far as men’s basketball.

Wingate, playing on its home floor, was beaten by Columbus State in the South Atlantic Division II Regionals Friday night, 67-57.