Box Score
NEWPORT NEWS, Va.- The Captains of Christopher Newport never trailed Wednesday night at the Freeman Center. CNU knocked off Mary Washington, ranked 13th in the nation this week, by a score of 74-61.

"This is a great win for us over a really strong program," Head Coach John Krikorian said. " Mary Washington is a senior-laden team and the top team in this league right now, so it's great to be able to protect our home court and get this win."

Christopher Newport drained seven three-pointers in the opening half and led by 11 at the intermission, 38-27. The Eagles cut the lead as close as three in the second half, but were never able to pull ahead of the Captains.

Senior Tra Benefield, playing in his 100th game as a Captain, scored 25 points to lead all scorers. Benefield posted 15 in the opening half, which included three three-pointers, and then scored ten more in the second stanza. He moved into sixth place on the school's all-time scoring list, and now has scored 1,694 career points. He is just 42 points behind Antoine Sinclair for fifth place on the list.

Benefield was four-for-four at the foul line in the second half and posted three late buckets on drives to the rim to help put the game away.

"Tra played 39 minutes tonight, and he was upset when I pulled him for that one minute break," Krikorian continued. "We expect him to come up big for us, and he certainly did tonight."

Sophomore Connor Laframboise had the hot hand early, knocking down four triples in the opening half. Laframboise ended the night with 19 points and also topped the squad with eight rebounds. The Captains out-rebounded the Eagles, 37-33.

Junior Mike Cherry posted 11 points and freshman Tim Daly added nine points and six rebounds.

Mary Washington is now 18-4 overall and 11-3 in the Capital Athletic Conference. The Eagles, who dropped behind Wesley in the CAC standings with the loss, were led by senior Dajon Daniel's 20 points. Senior Bradley Riester added 14, and senior Dom Morra finished with ten. The loss was the second straight for the 13th-ranked Eagles.

The CNU victory avenged a loss on January 15th to the Eagles in Fredericksburg, 76-65. Christopher Newport now leads the all-time series with Mary Washington, 19-5.

The Captains improved to 15-7 overall and 7-6 in the CAC. Due to losses Wednesday night by both Salisbury and Marymount, Christopher Newport now has sole possession of fourth place in the conference.

CNU hosts Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday. Game time at the Freeman Center is set for 4 p.m.