LYNCHBURG, VA – Christopher Newport's basketball squad trailed by as many as 14 and battled back to take the lead, but could not hold off a hot three-point shooting Lynchburg squad as the Hornets held on to win 81-79 Monday night.
LC torched the nets from behind the arc in the first half, hitting nine of its 13 three-point attempts it took and built a 14-point, 32-18 lead with 6:53 to play in the opening stanza, and led 43-39 at the break.
The Hornets were 16-of-29 (55%) from the field and 2-of-3 from the line. The Captains shot just 14-of-32 (43%) from the field but were just 1-of-10 from long range.
CNU's Davon Barton came out in the second half and single-handedly brought the Captains back. The junior point guard scored the first 10 points of the half to put Christopher Newport ahead, 44-43, with 17:21 to play.
Lynchburg countered with a three-pointer to retake the lead, but Barton, yet again, drained another three-pointer to put CNU back ahead, 47-46, with 16:41 remaining in the game.
CNU's biggest lead came when Paul Going drained two free throws to put the Captains ahead by five, 62-57, with 9:16 to play. Lynchburg then went on a 15-2 run to take an eight-point lead, 72-64, with 4:51 left in the contest.
LC let the Captains hang around, leading by six with 29 seconds to go. Barton's lay-up with 23 seconds left to cut the lead to four. After a Hornet missed free throw, Barton got fouled and hit two free throws to cut the lead to two, 78-76, with 16 seconds left.
After two Hornet free throws, Craig McCargo drained a long three with seven seconds to play to cut the lead back to one. Lynchburg was fouled again and missed both free throws, but grabbed the offensive rebound and was subsequently fouled. Jeff Langrock missed the first but hit the second free throw with four seconds to go.
Barton drove the length of the court and his last second short jumper to force overtime did not drop.
LC shot just 36% from the field in the second half and finished 27-of-60 (45%) from the floor for the game. The Hornets were 13-of-25 (52%) from long range and 14-of-20 (70%) from the charity stripe.
Brad Puffenbarger, who hit five three-pointers in the first half, finished with 23 points and hit seven three-pointers for the game. Langrock finished with 19 and eight rebounds, Kwame Safo added 15 points and Mason Wooldridge added 14.
Christopher Newport was 16-of-26 (62%) from the floor in the second half and finished 30-of-58 (52%) from the field for the game but were just 5-of-18 (28%) from behind the arc and were 14-of-19 (74%) from the line.
Barton finished with a career-high 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting, including 2-of-6 from long range. He eclipsed his old career-high by one point when he drained 32 against Lincoln (PA) in Myrtle Beach, SC as a freshman.
Conley Taylor added 14 points off the bench and McCargo had 11.
The Hornets improve to 2-5 while the Captains fall to 1-6. CNU returns to action Thursday when they travel to Carnegie Mellon with tip set for 4 pm.
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