FREDERICK, Md. - Five Captains reached double figures in scoring Sunday as Christopher Newport improved to 3-0 to start the season. The Captains, ranked 14th in the country, pulled away from Wilmington College (OH), winning 82-64 in the Championship of the Rotary of Frederick's Holiday Classic at BB&T Arena on the campus of Hood College.
Seniors
Spencer Marin and
Aaron McFarland led the CNU attack, with Marin posting 18 points and six rebounds and McFarland netting 17 with five boards. Both were selected to the All-Tournament team, with McFarland taking home MVP honors.
CNU opened an 11-point lead in the first half, only to see the Quakers cut the advantage to seven, 40-33, at halftime. The Captains then saw their lead sliced to three, 40-37, early in the second stanza before going on a 24-11 run and cruising to the 18-point triumph. Christopher Newport went up by as many as 21 in the second half, as the Captains recorded their largest margin of victory so far in the early going.
Joining Marin and McFarland in double digits were two freshmen,
Jason Aigner (13) and
Liam Harrington (12). Sophomore
Luther Gibbs also contributed 11 points. CNU made 30 of 55 shots for the day (54.5 percent) and dominated the boards by out-rebounding Wilmington, 51-30. Christopher Newport's defense held the Quakers to just 22 of 66 shooting (33.3 percent) as Wilmington fell to 2-1 on the season. The meeting was the first ever of the two schools.
McFarland, who sat out CNU's season-opening victory at Randolph-Macon Wednesday night, matched his career high with 27 points on Saturday in Christopher Newport's triumph over Catholic. He combined for 44 points on 15 of 27 shooting in the two-day tournament. Marin, who posted 15 and 14 points in CNU's first two wins, again set a new career high with his 18-point performance. Marin has made 22 of 32 attempts through three games with 17 rebounds.
In the first game of the day Sunday, Catholic defeated the host school, Hood, 100-82, in the third-place game. Joining Marin and McFarland on the All-Tournament squad were Will Patrick and Nathan Scott of Wilmington, and Luke Casey of Hood and Jay Howard of Catholic.
Christopher Newport will return to action on Sunday, hosting Dickinson at the Freeman Center. The 4:00 p.m. start will be the first home game of the season for the Captains, who have won 26 straight home games dating back to December of 2015.
