Christopher Newport University Athletic Department issued the following announcement on Feb. 25
Christopher Newport University won its 20th straight game Friday night, opening play in the inaugural Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with an 89-69 victory over UC Santa Cruz. Senior Darian Peterson led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds, making ten of 14 shots, and registering his fifth double-double in the last six games.
The Captains, now 23-2, will take on the University of Mary Washington Saturday night in the Championship game. Tipoff time is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Freeman Center.
"We had to grind today, and that's the kind of game we expected," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "UC Santa Cruz is talented and big, and we needed a strong second half effort to get out in front of them. I thought we defended well overall and got some great individual efforts...and now we have to prepare for a very good Mary Washington team."
UC Santa Cruz led by as many as five in the first half, and held a 37-36 advantage at halftime before the Captains took control early in the second half. CNU jumped ahead, 38-37, just 30 seconds into the second half on a Trey Barber tip in, and never trailed again. Barber's bucket began a 10-2 run for the Captains, who eventually opened a 23-point lead later in the second stanza.
Sophomore Jahn Hines, the Player of the Year in the C2C, joined Peterson in propelling the Captains after halftime. Hines tallied 11 of his 15 points after intermission, and Peterson scored 16 of his 22 in the final 20 minutes.
Fifth-year senior Jason Aigner knocked down four three-pointers and ended up with 17 points, and Barber also reached double digits with ten points, and also pulled down seven rebounds and blocked four shots. The Captains, who lead the nation in blocks, rejected nine attempts by the Banana Slugs in the semifinal win.
UC Santa Cruz out-rebounded the Captains in the opening half, 24-16, but the Captains closed the gap by securing 22 to just 17 for the Slugs after halftime. Junior Avri Finch led the Banana Slugs with 15 points and 12 rebounds, as they fell to 6-18 to conclude the season.
Christopher Newport turned the ball over just four times in the game, and the Captains held a 25-3 edge on points off turnovers for the night. Friday's victory improved the fourth-ranked Captains to 14-0 at home this season, and CNU is now 45-2 in its last 47 home games dating back to the 2018-19 season. The win was the third of the year for the Captains over the Banana Slugs, with the first two coming on back-to-back nights during CNU's trip to California in January.
In the second semifinal game Friday evening, Mary Washington improved to 16-8 with a 67-60 triumph over Salisbury at the Freeman Center. The Eagles got 17 points from senior Anias Saunders, and held off the Sea Gulls to advance to play for the league crown and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Captains took both regular-season meetings this season with the Eagles, registering a 78-71 win at the Freeman Center and a 68-67 victory in Fredericksburg last Saturday.
Tickets for Saturday's title game will be available at the Freeman Center ticket office prior to game time. All Captains games are broadcast live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network (Xtra 99.1 FM) with the pre-game show beginning Saturday at 6:40 p.m. The video of the games will also be streamed live, and you can watch the action by clicking HERE.
Original source can be found here.
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