NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Following the program's first trip to the Final Four eight months ago, the Christopher Newport men's basketball team opens a new season Tuesday night. The Captains, ranked second in the country, host the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College at the Freeman Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

"We're excited to get the 50th season of CNU basketball underway," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "It's going to be fun to be on the floor with another team in a game that counts."

There are high expectations for the Captains as they head into year #50. CNU returns a solid core of players who reached new heights in program history a year ago by compiling a 30-2 record, capturing both a regular and post-season title in the Capital Athletic Conference, and marching through the NCAA Tournament all the way to the Final Four before losing in the semi-finals in Salem to the eventual national champion, St. Thomas (MN).

Krikorian, who begins his seventh season on the CNU bench and was the CAC Coach of the Year last season, has plenty of weapons at his disposal.

"We've got depth and we're going to need it," Krikorian said. "We have a great group of young men who are hungry for more success. The guys who have been here are being challenged by a good group of freshmen who are going to get better with playing time. The schedule is one of the toughest you'll find anywhere, so we've got to be ready to play every night."

The Captains were led in scoring last year by All-American Marcus Carter, who returns as a junior. The CAC's Player of the Year became the first CNU sophomore to ever attain All-America status.

Carter will be surrounded by an experienced group of returning teammates including fellow junior Aaron McFarland as well as a fantastic senior class of Tim Daly, Kevin Regimbal, Rayshard Brown, and Justin Hampton.

The Captains were unanimously picked to repeat as champions of the CAC last week when the conference released its annual pre-season poll of coaches. In addition to being second-ranked in the D3hoops.com pre-season poll, the Captains were ranked in the top spot by DIII News and fourth in the country by The Sporting News magazine.

Tuesday's non-conference opener against Randolph-Macon will be broadcast live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network (Xtra 99.1 FM) with the pre-game show beginning at 7:10 p.m. The live action will also be streamed on the web at CNUsports.com/live.

The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 13-14 record last season that included a 74-65 CNU victory last November 24th in Ashland. Josh Merkel is beginning his second season as head coach at Randolph-Macon following a successful run at his alma mater, Salisbury.

Tickets for the game as well as season ticket packages are available at the Freeman Center Ticket Office.