NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport broke a 77-77 tie with five seconds left Saturday night to beat the University of Lynchburg at the Freeman Center, 79-77. Junior Adrian Beasley scored on a putback off a Jason Aigner missed shot to provide the winning margin and push the Captains record to 5-1 to start the season.

The Hornets, now 4-3, raced down the floor in the final seconds but turned the ball over on a traveling violation to end the drama-filled battle.

"That was a terrific college basketball game and a lot of fun to coach," Captains Head Coach John Krikorian said. "Lynchburg is a fantastic team and we went back and forth all night. I thought coming in it would be a game of runs, and it turned out to be the case."

Beasley finished with a double-double with 17 points and ten rebounds to lead the Captains, and was joined in double digits in the scoring column by senior Cutch Ellis (15), senior Luther Gibbs (12), and junior Jason Aigner (12).

Lynchburg went up by as many as nine points several times in the first half before the Captains managed to get ahead late in the half, 36-33. The Hornets then responded by by scoring the final five points before halftime to take a 38-36 lead at the break. Christopher Newport then trailed for much of the second half, falling behind by as many as eight points, 53-45. Ellis drilled a three-point field goal with 10:45 to play to put the Captains back in front, 57-56, and Christopher Newport would not trail again in the game. The Captains surge ended up being a 16-3 run, and the lead was 61-56 with 9:26 left.

The Hornets kept coming back and were able to pull even three times down the stretch, but could never get back ahead. Lynchburg junior Tharon Suggs knocked down a jumper with 19 seconds left to tie the game at 77-77, but the shot proved to be the last score of the game for the Hornets. Suggs finished with a game-high 23 points and was 10 of 14 from the field, but slid as he raced down the court in the final seconds to draw the game-ending traveling call. Junior Reggie Davis posted 20 points and junior T.C. Thacker added 17 for the Hornets.

"We gave up a lot tonight, and that tells you a lot about how good Lynchburg is," Krikorian continued. "They hit ten three-pointers...I can't tell you how long it's been since a team did that to us. They can really score and I think we did pretty well on defense to hold them to 77."

Both teams shot just 39 percent from the field in the battle, and the Captains out-rebounded the Hornets, 48-44. Christopher Newport was aided by 77 percent foul shooting as the Captains made 20 of 26 attempts at the charity stripe, including 11 of 13 (85 percent) in the second half. The triumph for the Captains marked the 21st straight at the Freeman Center dating back to last season. Christopher Newport is now 9-13 all-time vs. the Hornets.

The game marked the conclusion of the two-day Christopher Newport Classic, which saw two Capital Athletic Conference teams, Christopher Newport and Mary Washington, post two victories each over squads from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Lynchburg and Randolph. Mary Washington (6-1) defeated Randolph (2-3) in the opening game Saturday at the Freeman Center, 87-72. 

Christopher Newport, ranked ninth in the nation in Division III in the pre-season poll from D3hoops.com, has won five straight games since dropping its opener at Johns Hopkins. CNU hosts the Christopher Newport Invitational next weekend at the Freeman Center. Games will be played both Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., with the Captains playing the late game both days hosting Texas-Dallas Saturday and then Wisconsin-Stevens Point Sunday.