ARLINGTON, Va.- Christopher Newport saw its recent good fortunes come to an end Saturday, dropping a 62-60 decision at Marymount University. The Captains, who led for more than 35 minutes of action, saw the Saints grab the lead and hang on down the stretch for the Capital Athletic Conference victory at Verizon Sports Arena. The defeat ended CNU's six-game winning streak, and moves the Captains into a second-place tie with St. Mary's at 6-2 in the conference standings. Marymount takes over the league lead with a 7-1 mark.

"They're a very good team with a lot of seniors," Head Coach John Krikorian said following his team's first defeat since before the holidays. "They limited what we did with their defense in the second half and we just weren't able to play at the level we have been."

CNU senior Mike Cherry led the Captains with 13 points, followed by juniors Hunter Wetherell (11) and Connor Laframboise (10) in double figures. Marymount was led by four players in double digits, led by senior Jesse Konadu's 15 points. Senior big man J.C. Hoellich posted 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Saints improved to 7-0 at home this season.

The Captains good off to a good start, building a 23-11 lead midway through the opening half. Marymount trimmed the lead to four late in the opening stanza, only to see Cherry knock down a three-pointer on the buzzer to give CNU a 36-29 lead at the break. The triple was the 200th of Cherry's career, making him just the third Captain to ever reach the 200 plateau behind Jermaine Woods (252) and Jeremy Romeo (228).

The second half saw the Saints battle from behind and finally grab the lead, 49-48, with 7:11 to play. The teams would change leads five times before Marymount held off the Captains by making 13 of 18 free throws in the second half, and scoring 15 points off nine CNU second-half turnovers.

CNU still had an opportunity to tie or win the game in the final seconds, only to see freshman Marcus Carter's three-point attempt miss, and freshman Aaron McFarland's put-back attempt blocked by Hoellich.

The victory was just the second ever for Marymount over CNU in 17 all-time meetings. CNU is now 11-4 overall and 6-2 in the CAC. Marymount improved to 13-2 and 7-1 atop the league standings.

The Captains return to action Wednesday night, hosting Mary Washington at the Freeman Center. Tipoff time is set for 7:30 p.m.