North Tidewater News

Barber's 23 Points and 12 Rebounds Lead Captains over Banana Slugs, 74-61

 Junior big man Trey Barber recorded his fifth double-double of the season Saturday as fourth-ranked Christopher Newport University defeated UC Santa Cruz, 74-61. The victory at the Freeman Center, in front of 1,632 spectators, improved the Captains to 20-3 on the season.

Barber scored 23 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds as the Captains came from behind in the second half to secure the victory. John Krikorian's squad is now 6-0 this season when trailing at halftime.

"We had a lot of good looks in the first half, but we just didn't hit the shots," Krikroian said. "I credit UC Santa Cruz, they defended well and made us work for everything today. In the second half we were finally able to get some to go down, and we hit some big threes. That, coupled with our defensive effort, allowed us to get the lead and pull away a little bit."

Barber was seven-of-11 shooting and scored ten in the opening half and 13 in the second stanza. Fifth-year senior Matthew Brodie accounted for ten points and was the only other Captain to reach double figures. Sophomore Ty Henderson came off the bench to score nine and also added a team-high seven assists and four rebounds. Junior Jahn Hines, CNU's leading scorer on the season, was held to eight points, all in the second half, on three-for-12 shooting.

UC Santa Cruz led the battle for most of the first half, and the Banana Slugs upped the advantage to as many as six. CNU made just nine of 33 shots in the opening half (27 percent), and the visitors held a 29-26 edge at the intermission. The Captains rallied to knock down 16 of 31 (52 percent) in the second stanza, and pulled ahead to stay with 10:42 to play when Trey Barber knocked down two free throws to give CNU a 46-45 lead. Barber converted all eight free throw attempts, and also blocked three shots, and added an assist and a steal.

"We were getting out-rebounded at the half, and that was disappointing," Krikorian continued. "Our second half effort on the glass was much better and Trey is such a strong presence in there, it was great to see him have another standout game."

CNU out-rebounded UCSC, 48-42, for the game and held a 25-17 edge on the boards after halftime. The Captains, who posted their fifth straight victory, hit the 20-win mark for the 22nd time in the 55-year history of the program. Krikorian, in his 12th season leading the Captains, has now guided his squad to 20 or more victories ten times.

UC Santa Cruz, playing its second of three games in four days on the East coast, dropped its seventh straight game to fall to 8-12 on the season. Junior Ian McCloskey led the Slugs with 21 points, and senior Avri Finch added 16. Senior Treyson Keating topped the squad with 13 rebounds. The Slugs, who play at Mary Washington on Sunday to conclude their trip, will host the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament February 23-25 in Santa Cruz, Ca.

Christopher Newport returns to action next Saturday, February 11, with a road game at Salisbury University. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Maggs Center in Salisbury, Md. 

Original source can be found here