NEWPOR T NEWS, VA – Christopher Newport men's basketball player Josh Russell drained a three-pointer with 22 seconds left to lift CNU to an 87-83 win over Otterbein in the Third Place game of the CNU Invitational Saturday evening.
The Captains trailed by as many as 11, 77-66, with 5:49 left in the second half before making their comeback. Christopher Newport closed the game on a 21-4 run to capture the win.
CNU dominated points in the paint in the second half, out-scoring the Cardinals, 22-12. They also scored 12 points off of 10 second half Otterbein turnovers.
The Cardinals, playing just their second game of the year, came out on fire in the first half, leading by as many as 15, 37-22, with 6:07 to play. CNU whittled the lead down to nine at the break, 44-35, putting them in striking distance.
OC finished the first half shooting 52% from the field. The Cardinals shot very well in the second half (46%) from the field and 58% from behind the arc. But it was the Captains 53% shooting from the floor and draining 4-of-7 three-pointers and hitting all 14 free throw attempts in the second half.
For the game, Otterbein was 30-of-61 (49%) from the field, 11-of-25 (44%) from behind the arc and 12-of-16 (75%) from the charity stripe. Brian Pollack led the Cardinals with 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc. Brice Rausch finished with 17 points, Dan Keller had 14 points and five assists off the bench and Ian Gardner added 11.
Christopher Newport was 31-of-62 (50%) from the floor, 7-of-16 (44%) on three-point attempts and 18-of-21 (86%) from the free throw line. Michael Green led the Captains with 22 points. Russell had 19 on 5-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-7 from downtown and 4-of-4 from the line. Theo Baker added 18 points and Mark Blasingame had 12 and 12 boards while blocking five shots.
Otterbein's Brian Pollock, CNU's Russell, Wesley's Rashawn and Kenny Johnson and Roanoke's Melvin Felix were named All-Tournament. Roanoke's Curtis Peery was named MVP. The Maroons came from 20 points down to defeat Wesley, 87-81.
The Cardinals fall to 0-2 while CNU evens its record at 2-2. The Captains return to action next Friday against Maryland Bible at 8 pm.
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