NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The CNU men's basketball team took control in the last six minutes of the first half and went on to an 83-65 win over Methodist in the first game of a USA South weekend, Saturday afternoon at the Freeman Center.

After a relatively tight stretch in which the Monarchs actually took a 26-25 lead, CNU got on top for good, 27-26, on a layup by Mark Blasingame. That began a 15-4 run to end the half, with the Captains on top, 40-30 at the break.

CNU gradually expanded its margin in the second half, going up 49-33 with 12:45 to play and eventually built its biggest margin, 76-53, with 2:10 to play.

Jake Capin came off the bench to lead CNU with 18 points, hitting 4-8 three-pointers. Mike Green added 14 on 7-9 shooting. Xavier Parham contributed 11 with five assists and Blasingame scored 10 and had nine rebounds.

The Captains shot .453 from the floor and owned the boards, 53-38.

CNU is now 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the USA South where they play a key game Sunday at 4:00 against a Greensboro team that won on the road Saturday at Shenandoah. 79-73. Methodist fell to 0-16 and 0-4.

The box score