NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport men's basketball team picked up a couple spots in the national rankings this week, listed as the No. 15 team in the D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Top 25 in week eight. The Captains (13-2, 6-1) have won eight of their last nine games, with their only loss coming on the road in double overtime to N.C. Wesleyan (112-109). CNU will host Averett University (7-8, 3-3) on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm, with live stats and video available at CNUsports.com.
The Captains picked up 236 points in the week eight poll to make the top fifteen. CNU has been in the national rankings all season, as high as 13th in the nation after week six. St. Thomas (Minn.) was listed as the nation's top-ranked team.
CNU, under the direction of third-year head coach
John Krikorian, has raced out to a 13-2 start, tied for the fourth best start in program history through 15 games. In fact, Krikorian has guided the Captains to a 33-5 record in their last 38 games dating back to early in the 2011-12 season. He's improved to 54-16 overall (.771) and 30-5 against league competition for an 85.7% winning mark.
The Captains are led this season by junior team captain
Tra Benefield (Folkston, Ga. / Evangel Christian (Va.)), who is averaging 20.7 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Both are team-high marks, and Benefield is filling the stat sheet, ranking third in blocked shots, steals and second in three-pointers made. He ranks third in the USA South in scoring and in the top five in rebounding, as he has paced one of the nation's top scoring offenses. The Captains rank 32nd in the nation in scoring (79.7 ppg) and the defense has been suffocating, ranking sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.370). Sophomores
Mike Cherry (16.1 ppg) and
Nik Biberaj (15.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg) have complemented Benefield on the offensive end.
Averett comes into Wednesday's game off of a big conference win against N.C. Wesleyan, 88-74, to assert themselves among the leaders inthe USA South. Senior Justin Pierce ranks in the top nine nationally in scoring, and second in the league, averaging 24.6 points per game. He earned his second Conference Player of the Week honor earlier this week after averaging 36.0 points per game in a pair of wins for the Cougars last week. Pierce is coming off a career-high 39 points against the Bishops and has been the team's leading scorer in ten straight games. Senior Marquis Scott has started 13 games for Averett and is averaging a double-double, with 12.2 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.
The game will be broadcast live at Xtra 99.1 FM, the CNU/Pepsi Radio Network, and live video will also be available at Captains Sports Live on CNUsports.com/LIVE. A link to live stats can also be found at CNUsports.com.
