HOBOKEN, NJ - The field of 64 teams from across the country is set for the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament. The first round begins on Friday with 32 games as the field will be cut in half. John Krikorian's Captains of Christopher Newport are 21-6 and will be making their fifth straight NCAA appearance thanks to an at-large bid. The Captains will take on Colby College of Maine at 4:00 p.m. on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Christopher Newport, making its 24th overall NCAA appearance in the 53-year history of the program, lost to York last Saturday, 79-77, at the Freeman Center in the Championship of the Capital Athletic Conference. Colby also lost in its conference title game, in double overtime, to Tufts in the NESCAC Championship on Sunday. The Mules are 24-3 heading into Friday afternoon's battle.

The Captains last year reached the National Semifinals for the second time in the last four years, falling to Swarthmore in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the Final Four. 

Christopher Newport and Colby have actually played once before, in the very first season of the Freeman Center in January of 2001. The Mules took part in the Captains Shootout, and lost to Christopher Newport in the opening round, 67-58.

Colby, located in Waterville, Maine, is ranked 12th in the country and the Mules are third in the nation in three-point field goal attempts. The Captains, ironically, lead the country in three-point field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to connect only 27.3% of the time this year beyond the arc.

Speaking of three-pointers, Christopher Newport junior Jason Aigner is just two threes shy of matching the school's all-time record for triples. Aigner, who went over the 1,000-point mark earlier this season, trails only Aaron McFarland on the three-point list...and tops the squad averaging 13.9 points per game this season.

The host school for the four-team pod, Stevens Institute of Technology, will play Nichols College at 6:30 p.m. in the second game Friday night. The winners will advance to the second round on Saturday night with tipoff time set for 6:30 p.m.

Friday's action will be broadcast live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi Radio Network (Xtra 99.1 FM) with the pre-game show beginning at 3:40 p.m.

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