NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport jumped to a big early lead and never looked back Wednesday night, defeating St. Mary's (Md.) in the Capital Athletic Conference Semifinals, 100-63, at the Freeman Center. The Captains will host York College (Pa.) in the title game for the third straight year Saturday at the Freeman Center with tipoff set for 2:00 p.m. York defeated Mary Washington in the other semifinal Wednesday night, 74-60.

The Captains, now 21-5, never trailed and improved to 13-1 at home this season. The dominant performance featured a 35-point lead in the first half, 42-17, and a 55-23 lead at the break. Following the intermission, the Captains went on a 17-1 run and eventually built a 57-point bulge later in the second half, 85-28. The output marks the first time this season the Captains have reached the 100-point mark. A crowd of 608 Freeman faithful watched five Captains reach double figures led by junior Jason Aigner's 26-point performance. Aigner, a first team All-Conference selection, drilled six three-pointers, and is now just seven shy of the school's all-time mark for triples set by Aaron McFarland.

"I had a feeling something special was going to happen tonight, but I never expected anything like this," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "From the start of the game, you could see how motivated we were...I can't say enough about the overall effort. We have six seniors, and they set the tone preparing for this game, and you can see the result." 

Freshman Ian Anderson came off the bench to score 17 points in just 15 minutes of action. Anderson also pulled down six rebounds. Sophomore Tyler Trimble registered a new career high with 16 points in just 11 minutes. Senior Cutch Ellis (11) and senior Dalon McHugh II (10) also reached double digits. Senior Nick Parks led the Captains on the boards with a career-best 11 rebounds. The Captains held a 52-30 advantage in rebounds, and out-scored the Seahawks in the paint, 50-18.

The Captains made 57 percent of their shots (38 of 67) and 46 percent from long range (13 of 28). Christopher Newport held St. Mary's to just 27 percent shooting for the game (18 of 66), and just 20 percent in the first half (7 of 35). The Seahawks were led by Miles Gillette's 16 points, and finish the season with a 9-18 mark.

Aigner scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, and has now scored 1,049 for his career. His effort moved him into 30th place on the school's all-time scoring list. Aigner becmae the 33rd Captain to reach the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season. 

Christopher Newport won all three meetings with St. Mary's this season by a combined margin of 102 points. The Captains have now won 13 straight over the Seahawks, and lead the all-time series, 20-9. 

Saturday's title game will be the seventh straight for the Captains since joining the CAC. John Krikorian's squad has split in the previous six title games. Christopher Newport and York split their two regular-season games this season, with each team winning at home. The Captains defeated the Spartans, 79-68, at the Freeman Center on January 10th, and the Spartans downed the Captains in York in double overtime, 101-97, on February 8th.

Both teams finished in a 9-1 tie atop the CAC standings, and the Captains won a coin flip to become the top seed and the right to host the Championship. The schools have split the last two CAC Championships, both played at the Freeman Center. York defeated the Captains in 2018, 82-73, in the title game and last year Christopher Newport recorded a 78-56 victory in the Championship game.

Tickets for the title game will be on sale Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at the Freeman Center Ticket Office. 

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