NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Christopher Newport's men's basketball squad went down to Averett, 70-63, in the championship of the USA South Tournament Saturday evening.

CNU got up by nine in the second half, 47-38, with 16:14 left in the game but the Cougars came back going on a 15-4 run to take a two point lead with 8:35 remaining in the game.

Christopher Newport scored four straight to take a 55-53 lead with 7:24, but AU cane right back and took the lead on Justin Parker's three-pointer with 6:03 left.

Davon Barton hit two free throws with 4:42 to go to give CNU a one point lead, but the Cougars responded and stepped up their defense. AU took the lead for with 3:29 remaining when tournament MVP Jonathon Rumley made one of two free throws.

The Cougars hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The Captains wasted no time in taking control of the game early as they began the game on a 15-4 run to lead by 11 with 13:49 remaining. A 16-8 Averett run cut the CNU lead to 23-20 with 6:50 left in the opening half.

The Cougars cut the lead to as few as two with 2:39 left and Christopher Newport got it back to seven with 39 ticks left on the clock, but Justin Parker rebounded his own miss and knocked in the shot with three seconds left to cut the lead to 39-34 at the break.

AU shot 24-of-64 (38%) from the field, 9-of-38 (24%) from behind the arc and 13-of-23 (57%) from the free throw line. Rumley led all scorers with 19 points and he finished with seven rebounds and six assists. Damien Brown had 10 and nine boards off the bench.

Christopher Newport was 22-of-51 (43%) from the floor, 5-of-19 (26%) from long range and 14-of-19 (74%) from the charity stripe. Theo Baker led all CNU scorers with 14 points. Davon Barton and Michael Green both finished with 12 and Mark Blasingame added 11 and nine rebounds.

Joining Rumley on the All-Tournament team were Methodist's Mark Jernigan, Shenandoah's Kevin Kline, CNU's Green and Barton and Averett's Kenny Hart.

Averett will advance to the NCAA Tournament with a record of 20-8. The Captains finish the year 18-9.

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