Box Score   |  Box Score in HTML Format  | Box Score in PDF Format

FAYETTEVILLE, NC- The Christopher Newport men's basketball team won its 5th straight game Wednesday night, holding off Methodist, 80-75. The road victory came in the first USA South Athletic Conference game of the season for both squads.

CNU took an 11-point lead at halftime, 37-26, and then upped the lead to 17 in the second half before a furious comeback by the home Monarchs. Methodist cut the Captains lead to 3 twice late in the second half. Christopher Newport was able to seal the win thanks to late foul shots down the stretch to improve to 9-3 on the season.

"We didn't play well and I thought we lacked intensity," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "It's tough when you're on the road and play like that...we were fortunate to win tonight."

Sophomore Tra Benefield led CNU with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Mike Cherry and senior Conley Taylor scored 17 each, with Cherry sinking two key free throws in the final minute.

"It's a different season now in conference play," Krikorian continued. "We knew they would keep battling...we did just enough to win the game."

Senior Mark Jernigan led the Methodist comeback effort, scoring 16 of his 23 points in the second half.

The loss for Methodist was its 7th straight, and the Monarchs fall to 3-10 overall.

Christopher Newport (9-3, 1-0) will put its 5-game winning streak on the line Saturday at North Carolina Wesleyan. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. The game will air live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network (Xtra 99.1 FM) and Captains Sports Live at cnusports.com