NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The 2018-2019 men's basketball season begins on Saturday afternoon, as the Captains of Christopher Newport University travel to Arlington, Va., to take part in the sixth annual Pablo Coto Tipoff Tournament at Marymount University. CNU will play Trinity (TX) with the scheduled start set for 3:00 p.m. Host school Marymount plays Wilmington (OH) in the opening game at 1:00 p.m. 

The Captains are coming off a 22-7 season last year that saw them advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. John Krikorian begins his ninth season on the bench, and has been selected the Capital Athletic Conference's Coach of the Year the last three years. Krikorian has recorded an overall record of 181-49 for a winning percentage of .787 leading the Captains.

Christopher Newport returns a solid group of student-athletes, 15 in all, from last year's team. Nine of the 15 averaged at least ten minutes of playing time per game. The 2018-2019 roster has 20 total members. Fifth-year senior Marcus Carter, an All-American as a sophomore, returns after missing most of last season due to an ankle injury. Carter is already a member of the 1,000-point club, and has scored 1,304 points in 94 career games (an average of 13.9 per game). He is currently tied for 14th on the school's all-time scoring list entering the new season.

Trinity is 0-1 heading into play on Saturday after dropping its opener on Wednesday at home to Mary Hardin-Baylor. This will be the first meeting ever of the two schools in men's basketball play. Saturday's winners will advance to play for the tournament title on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The third-place game will be played at 12:00 p.m. Sunday.

All Christopher Newport games are broadcast live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network (Xtra 99.1 FM) with the pre-game show beginning on Saturday at 2:40 p.m.

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