NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Christopher Newport's men's basketball team dropped a tough 76-64 decision to Randolph-Macon Saturday night, in the final non-conference tilt of the year.

The final score was not indicative of how close the game actually was.

CNU led early, 9-3, with 16:06 left in the opening half. RMC came back, going on a 20-10 run to take the lead, 23-19, with 9:21 to play in the first half.  It was a see-saw back and forth final nine minutes as the two teams tried to battle for position. RMC took control of the final three minutes, leading by as many as six, including at the half, 38-32.

In the second, the Yellow Jackets withstood every CNU run. The Captains whittled the lead down to two with 12:35 left and then RMC responded by going on a 16-6 run to stretch its lead to 12, 61-49, with 6:13 to go.

Christopher Newport countered to cut the lead down to three, 62-59, with 3:51 to play, but Randolph-Macon again had an answer, quickly increasing its lead back to double digits with 1:36 to play.

RMC finished 25-of-53 (47%) from the field, 4-of-21 (19%) from long range and 22-of-26 (85%) from the line.

Justin Short paced Randolph-Macon with 21 points. Boris Varela had 13 and 11 rebounds and Jordan Brown also scored 13 points.

The Captains finished 27-of-64 (42%) from the floor, 6-of-13 (46%) from behind the arc and 4-of-8 (50%) from the line.

Mike Green led CNU with 17 points and nine rebounds. Mark Blasingame contributed 17 points, eight boards and six blocks. Davon Barton finished with 12 points and five assists.

The Yellow Jackets improve to 10-3. Christopher Newport falls to 7-6. The Captains open USA South play on Wednesday as they travel to Winchester, VA to take on Shenandoah with tip-off set for 7:30 pm.

Box Score