Captains Survive Scare in NCAA Opening Round Game, Come from Behind to Defeat Farmingdale State, 61-60

Captains Survive Scare in NCAA Opening Round Game, Come from Behind to Defeat Farmingdale State, 61-60 | cnusports.com/

By Press release submission

Mar 4, 2023

Captains Survive Scare in NCAA Opening Round Game, Come from Behind to Defeat Farmingdale State, 61-60

Christopher Newport University battled from behind in the second half Friday, and managed to hold off Farmingdale State (NY) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, 61-60. Junior Trey Barber led the way for the second-ranked Captains, scoring 19 points and pulling down 12 rebounds as the Captains improved to 25-3 on the year. The victory at Kirby Field House was the tenth straight for CNU, and the Captains will advance to play host Hampden-Sydney College Saturday night at 7:20 p.m.

Barber, who registered his sixth double-double of the season, scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half as the Captains erased a ten-point halftime deficit, 32-22. Junior Jahn Hines posted 14 points, and also was key in the second stanza, scoring eight after the half. Fifth-year senior Matthew Brodie also reached double digits with ten points.

"We just didn't seem to trust each other in the first half," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "I thought we were able to get it going a bit in the second half, but even after we got ahead, we just never found a way to pull away. We got the ball to Trey a lot in the second half, and he had great focus and was able to convert and help turn the game around."

CNU held a 22-19 edge with 4:49 to go in the opening half before Farmingdale State scored the final 13 points of the half to take a 32-22 lead to the locker room. The Rams, who finished the year 21-8, scored the first three of the second stanza to stretch the run to 16-0, and eventually would take a 14-point lead, 41-27, with 16:23 to play.

Barber and Hines then took over, scoring 22 of the team's 39 points in the second stanza. CNU whittled away at the lead, and eventually pulled back ahead, 43-42, on a Barber stick-back with 10:13 on the clock. FSU would not go away, as the Rams would re-claim the lead and go up by five, 54-49, with 6:56 remaining. CNU again responded and the teams exchanged the lead five times in the final five minutes, and 13 times in all.

Barber, who made nine-of-17 shots in the game, scored the last three buckets for the Captains over the final two minutes to push CNU into the second round. His final tally, a hook shot with 42 seconds left gave Christopher Newport a 61-60 lead. The Rams had three opportunities to win the game, but turned the ball over with 24 seconds left, and then missed two shots in the waning seconds as the Captains held on for the victory. Barber was coming off a 29-point performance in the Championship game of the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament last Saturday, and was named MVP of the tourney in Santa Cruz, Ca.

The Captains were able to survive and advance despite shooting just 39 percent for the game (24 of 62) and just three-of-20 from long range (15 percent). CNU was out-rebounded by the Rams, 50-48, and FSU turned the ball over just seven times compared to the Captains 11 miscues.

Christopher Newport out-scored Farmingdale State, 39-28, in the second half to pull out the victory. Seniors Aaron Davis and Tre Riggins led the Rams with 15 points each. The opening-round game was the first meeting ever of the schools.

Hampden-Sydney is 22-6 and advanced with a 63-59 victory Friday night over Emory University. Saturday's game with Hampden-Sydney will be a re-match of a game earlier this season that saw the Tigers beat the Captains at the Freeman Center, 85-70, on December 13th.

Tickets for Saturday's matchup with Hampden-Sydney can be purchased at the link below using the access code: TEAM2.

https://events.ticketspicket.com/agency/bfd3611d-59bb-4452-8f8d-a0be7a8d2086

This is CNU's seventh-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, and the 26th in the 55-year history of the program. The Captains are now 28-25 all-time in NCAA play. Saturday's second-round game will begin at 7:20 p.m.