SALISBURY, Md. – Taking to the road for the last two games of the season, the Christopher Newport men's basketball team needed a win Wednesday night at Capital Athletic Conference rival, Salisbury to guarantee at least a second-place finish in the conference standings. After struggling to get in a rhythm early, the Captains came to life over the last 26 minutes of the game and raced to a 91-74 victory over the Sea Gulls.
The victory improved CNU to 21-3 overall and 11-2 in the CAC and solidifies Christopher Newport among the top two teams in the regular season standings. York (Pa.) will play Thursday night at Frostburg State and needs a win to keep pace with the Captains at the top of the standings.
Salisbury scored the first six points of the game as both teams struggled offensively out of the gate. Christopher Newport finally started to get comfortable when they began working the ball down low.
Savonte Chappell got the Captains on the board a little over three minutes into the game with drop stop layup assisted by Jason AIgner.
Adrian Beasley followed a layup, fed by
Marcus Carter and
Cutch Ellis was fouled while finishing at the rim off of another Carter assist.
The Captains and Sea Gulls traded possessions and CNU slowly chipped away at the Salisbury lead. Carter collected a pass from Beasley on the left wing and knocked down a three-pointer and when Ellis converted on a layup with 8:12 to play, the Captains finally had pulled even with Salisbury at 16 a piece.
When Beasley gave his team the lead with a 7:36 left in the first, the Captains would not look back. Christopher Newport outpaced Salisbury 27-10 to close out the half and head to the locker room leading 43-26.
The Captains blistered the nets in the second half connecting on 10 of 13 attempts from beyond the arc and shot 54% from the floor for the game. The attack was balanced as four players registered double-digit efforts led by
Jason Aigner's 21. Ellis and Beasley each registered double-doubles with Ellis collecting 12 rebounds to go with 18 points, and Beasley pulling down 11 boards to accompany his 12 points.
Carter finished his night with 15 points to go with 5 assists and 4 rebounds. The team effort on the glass pushed the Captains to a decided advantage out-rebounding the Sea Gulls 42-23.
The men return to action Saturday afternoon for the regular season finale at Penn State Harrisburg in a game that tips at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on Xtra 99.1 FM and coverage will be available at CNUsports.com. Tournament seeding and quarterfinal matchups will be announced Saturday evening at the conclusion of all league games.
