NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Four Captains reached double figures Friday, as Christopher Newport opened play in the Capital Athletic Conference with a 79-68 victory over York College (Pa.) at the Freeman Center. Senior Dalon McHugh II led the way with 18 points as the Captains won for the fifth straight time and improved to 12-4 overall.

"I thought we put together a really good defensive effort," Head Coach John Krikorian said. 'We got out of the gate slowly, but it's a long game and once we got going we really hit our stride. I thought we left a lot of points out there, though, and we can certainly play better."

Christopher Newport's defense held York to just 39 percent shooting for the night, The Spartans, now 10-5 and 0-1, came into the game as a 50 percent shooting team for the season but managed to make just 27 of 69 total shots.

York opened the game by scoring the first eight points, before the Captains went on a 16-6 run to grab the lead, 16-14. Moments later, the Captains took a 23-22 edge and never trailed again in the game. Christopher Newport led at the intermission, 30-24, and surged ahead by as many as 18 in the second half.

McHugh scored eight points in the first half and followed with ten in the second stanza to pace the offensive attack. He also posted seven rebounds, as the Captains held a 44-43 advantage on the boards for the night. Freshman Ian Anderson registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, scoring all 12 points in the second half. Senior Cutch Ellis also contributed 11 boards to go with nine points.

Seniors Nick Parks (15) and Luther Gibbs (12) also reached double digits in scoring and keyed the Captains defensive effort. Junior Jason Aigner, Christopher Newport's top scorer for the season, was also strong defensively but did not score for just the fifth time in his three-year career...going 0-for-4 from the field.

A crowd of 702 at the Freeman Center watched the Captains shoot 48 percent from the field, making 30 of 62 total shots...and seven of 23 from beyond the three-point line. Christopher Newport improved to 8-1 at home this season. 

York was led by senior Jared Wagner's 24 points and 12 rebounds, followed by junior David Giuliani's 17 points and ten boards. The Captains now hold a 13-4 lead in the all-time series with the Spartans, and the teams will tangle again in York, Pa., on February 8th. Christopher Newport and York have advanced to play each other in the CAC Championship game the last two years, both at the Freeman Center. York won the 2018 title game, while the Captains claimed the 2019 championship.

McHugh has now led the Captains in the scoring column the last two games, and registered a career-best 25 last Saturday in a road victory at Widener. He is now averaging 11 points per game.

Christopher Newport will now play its next three games on the road, starting next Wednesday at Southern Virginia. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. in Buena Vista, Va.