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DOVER, DE - Christopher Newport lost a hard-fought battle Saturday at Wesley College, 66-63, in front of a packed Wentworth Gymnasium. The Captains and Wolverines went back and forth through the second half, before Wesley escaped with the three-point triumph.
 
"This was a great college basketball game," CNU Head Coach John Krikorian said. "It's a shame one team had to lose. I thought we did all of the things you need to do to win on the road, but we came up just short. I'm very happy with the way we battled, but certainly not with the outcome."
 
The Captains opened the game with a torrid three-point attack, knocking down seven triples in the first half on ten attempts. Junior Mike Cherry had the hot hand, draining five threes for the day, with four coming in the opening half. Cherry finished with a game-high 24 points.
 
After CNU led by as many as 11 with 11:17 remaining in the opening half, Wesley whittled the lead down to two at halftime, 37-35.
 
"We did a good job on (David) Langan in the first half, sending him out with two fouls," Krikorian continued. "The problem for us came when Tim Daly picked up his second foul a few minutes later and had to come out. We're just not in a place right now where we can have Tim on the bench for that long."
 
Langan, Wesley's top scorer and rebounder who averages 16 points and 11 rebounds per game, played only five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, but managed to play all 20 in the second half.
 
The second half saw Wesley finally grab the lead midway through the stanza. The Wolverines led by as many as five with 8:33 to play, only to see the Captains battle back. The game featured five second half lead changes as the teams battled down the stretch. The Wolverines held a three-point edge thanks to two free throws from Anthony Bowers with 14 seconds left. Bowers, who comes off Wesley's bench, had hit a huge three-pointer moments earlier in the second half.
 
The Captains had a final chance to force overtime, but Cherry missed a closely contested three-point attempt from the left wing in the final seconds.
 
"We lost the battle on the glass for a stretch in the second half and it really cost us," Krikorian continued. CNU was out-rebounded, 34-29, for the day. The Captains struggled from the field as well in the second half, shooting just 32 percent (8 of 25) after shooting 56 percent in the opening half (14 of 25).
 
Langan finished with just nine points and eight rebounds for Wesley. Quincy Pettiford led the Wolverines with 19 points and Eric Selby added 13.
 
Senior Tra Benefield, who scored 14 points, was the only other CNU player in double figures. Benefield also posted a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Wesley, ranked sixth in the nation last week, is now 18-2 overall and improved to 10-2 in the Capital.
 
The Captains are now 14-7 for the season, and 6-6 in league action. CNU plays its next three games at home. The stretch begins Wednesday night as Christopher Newport hosts Mary Washington at the Freeman Center in a 7:30 p.m. start. The game can be seen at: CNUsports.com/LIVE and will be broadcast live on Xtra 99.1 FM.