NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport recorded its highest point total in almost six years on Sunday, as the Captains cruised to a 109-73 victory over John Carroll. CNU, now 4-0 to start the season, took the Championship of the Holiday Inn Invitational at the Freeman Center handing the 20th-ranked Blue Streaks their first loss of the year.

"We executed our game plan to perfection," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "We defended them as well as we ever could have expected to, and our offense came up big as well."

Senior Marcus Carter led the way with 24 points, and was named MVP of the two-day tournament. Carter tallied 43 points and 13 rebounds in CNU's two victories over the weekend. He now has scored 1,371 career points, and moved past Ted Berry and Matt Bryant into 11th place on CNU's all-time scoring list.

Christopher Newport opened the game by racing to an 18-3 lead. John Carroll made just one of its first 13 shots from the field to start the game as the Captains surged eventually to a 35-16 edge, their biggest lead of the opening half. The Blue Streaks used a 20-10 run late in the first half to cut the lead at intermission to nine, 45-36.

The Captains stormed out of halftime and put the game away early in the second stanza. CNU out-scored JCU, 23-7, over the first six minutes of the second half to extend the lead to 68-43. From there, the Captains continued to pound away and went over the 100-point mark while opening a 38-point advantage, 100-62. They would go ahead by as many as 39 for the biggest lead of the day at 103-64, on the way to the 36-point final verdict.

Sophomore Jason Aigner added 12 points for the Captains and was named to the All-Tournament squad. Fellow sophomore Brandon Edmond (11 points) and junior Luther Gibbs (10 points) also reached double figures for the Captains, who played all 18 available roster members and had a total of 14 get into the scoring column.

Christopher Newport held a commanding edge on the boards, out-rebounding the Blue Streaks for the day, 54-36. Junior Cutch Ellis topped the squad with ten boards. The Captains made 46 percent of their shots (39 of 84), and were 20 of 24 at the foul stripe (83 percent).

John Carroll, now 3-1, was led by Greg Parella's 25 points. The Blue Streaks were held to 33 percent shooting by the Captains (21 of 63), and suffered 21 turnovers to just 12 committed by the Captains.

The MVP award for Carter was his second in as many weeks after being honored last Sunday at the conclusion of the Marymount Tipoff Tournament. Carter is the fourth CNU player to ever be named MVP of both CNU in-season tournaments in his career, the Invitational and Captains Shootout, joining Antoine Sinclair, Jeremy Romeo, and Conley Taylor on the list.

The last time a CNU squad went over the 100-point mark came on January 9, 2013, in a 112-109 overtime loss at North Carolina Wesleyan. The Captains now hold a 5-1 lead in the all-time series with John Carroll.

CNU has won all four of its games this season by double digit margins. Christopher Newport will next travel to Winchester on Wednesday to take on Shenandoah University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. 

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