Fredericksburg, Va. – The 18^th ranked Captains of Christopher Newport took to the road for the first time Saturday in Capital Athletic Conference play and battled host, Mary Washington in a 69-61 setback. After opening conference play Wednesday night in a physical game that went to the wire against York, the first road contest of 2019 affirmed that the champion of the CAC will be battle tested.
 
Shooting just 39% for the game, the Captains struggled to get things going offensively. "We didin't show up ready to play today," said Head Coach John Krikorian. "It's a credit to Mary Washington, but our intensity and effort needs to be better."
 
Mary Washington opened the scoring with a layup from Johnny Cronin after more than two minutes of game play, but neither team was able to consistently find looks early. Mary Washington dragged their initial lead to 7-0 before CNU was able to register points in the scorebook off a stick-back by Cutch Ellis more than eight minutes into the game.
 
Nick Parks' three-pointer with a little more than 6 minutes remaining in the first half sparked a 16-5 run which ended when freshman guard Elijah Bowens connected a three-pointer of his own with a minute remaining in the half to bring CNU within a point. The hosts added a bucket before halftime to take a 29-26 lead to the locker room.
 
Jason Aigner led all Captains with 19 points, 5-11 from beyond the arc and added several second half baskets that helped CNU keep pace with Mary Washington. Luther Gibbs, the only other Captain in double figures with 10 points, collected a long rebound on the defensive end and finished at the rim to make the score 47-46 with seven minutes to play. It is the closest CNU would come to taking the lead in a game which they trailed for all 40 minutes.
 
Senior, Marcus Carter fouled out of the game with 11 minutes remaining and without their leading scorer, the Captains just couldn't sustain enough momentum to take the lead. Trying to claw back in the final minute, CNU sent Mary Washington to the charity stripe where they converted on nine of 10 opportunities to claim the victory.
 
Christopher Newport got 23 points from its bench, led by Bowens' 8 and seven from Adrian Beasley.
 
With the loss CNU drops to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in CAC play and will return to action Wednesday night at the Freeman Center when they play host to St. Mary's (Md.) at 7:30 p.m