NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Capital Athletic Conference Championship game lived up to its pre-game billing Saturday, as the top two seeds squared off in a back-and-forth battle. York College (Pa.) came from behind and recorded a 79-77 victory over the Captains at the Freeman Center to win the conference crown and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The battle featured 13 lead changes and was tied nine different times.
"That was a terrific college basketball game," Head Coach
John Krikorian said. "It was everything we thought it would be with a title on the line. We got off to a really good start but had some breakdowns in the second half. York is obviously a very dangerous team and they're tough to put away."
The Captains, now 21-6, established the lead in the opening half by making 17 of 34 shots. Christopher Newport and York were tied six times in the first 20 minutes and exchanged the lead six times The Captains surged to a seven-point lead at the half, 47-40, thanks to a 7-1 run to end the half.
York, now 22-5, came from behind and used a 13-0 run to go from six down to seven up, 63-56, with 9:47 left to go. The Spartans increased the lead to nine, 71-62, on a three-pointer from senior Darin Gordon with 5:22 to play. The Captains responded by charging back and reeling off ten straight points over the next three minutes to re-claim the lead, 72-71, on a free throw by senior
Cutch Ellis with 1:50 left to play.
Down the stretch, Gordon knocked down two more three-pointers and the Spartans were back in front, 77-74, with 54 seconds on the clock. Ellis then went inside and scored on a lay-in and was fouled in the process with 45 seconds left. His free throw evened the game at 77-77. York junior David Giuliani broke the tie with a layup with 19 seconds left to provide what proved to be the deciding score. The Captains would then have two opportunities to tie or win the game in the waning seconds only to miss on a layup attempt and then have their final shot blocked to end the game.
Junior
Jason Aigner led the Captains with 20 points, but was held to just two in the second half. Senior
Luther Gibbs, who notched a career-high 18 points at York earlier this season, matched that mark with 18. Ellis added 13 points, including nine after halftime. Junior
Adrian Beasley topped the Captains with eight rebounds.
York was led by senior Jared Wagner, the CAC's Player of the Year, who scored 28 points of which 19 came in the opening half. Gordon posted 23, with 19 coming in the second half. Junior David Giuliani registered 19 points and 21 rebounds, matching a Freeman Center record for rebounds in a game set by Derek Mitchell of Ferrum twice in 2008 and 2010. Wagner, Giuliani, and Gordon scored all 39 points for the Spartans in the second half. Gordon was selected the MVP of the tournament and Wagner and Gordon were voted to the All-Tournament team. Christopher Newport's
Jason Aigner and
Cutch Ellis were also named to the All-Tournament squad. Aigner, who connected on five three-point attempts, is now just two shy of
Aaron McFarland for the school's all-time mark for triples.
The Captains were out-rebounded by the Spartans, 46-43, marking just the second time this season the Captains have not won the battle of the boards. Saturday's defeat in front of 947 Freeman faithful, marked the first time this season the Captains did not win a game they led at halftime. Christopher Newport was 19-0 when leading at the intermission prior to Saturday's defeat. The game marked the seventh straight appearance for the Captains in the CAC title game since joining the conference. The defeat was just the second home loss of the season for the Captains, who are now 13-2 at the Freeman Center.
York earned an automatic bid into the upcoming NCAA Division III Championship by virtue of the victory. The Captains will have to wait and see if they will be included in the field as an at-large selection. The NCAA will release the bracket on Monday at 12:30 p.m.
