NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University continued its winning ways Friday night at the Freeman Center, downing regional rival Virginia Wesleyan University, 80-72. The victory was the sixth straight for the 12th-ranked Captains, who have now won all seven home games this season.

Senior Matt Brodie, making his first start of the season, posted a team-high 17 points and was one of five Captains to reach double figures as John Krikorian's squad improved to 9-2 on the year.

"I really could not be more proud of the way we battled tonight," Krikorian said. "We've had a couple of tough days dealing with injury issues, and I thought our energy and effort tonight was just what we were hoping for. Every time they had a run going, we were able make a big shot or a defensive stop and hold them off."

Seniors Darian Peterson (14) and Jason Aigner (11), junior Nick Thomas (10) and sophomore Jahn Hines (10) followed Brodie in the scoring column. Peterson also recorded nine rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots, while Thomas also tallied six rebounds and two assists. Hines, who played just seven minutes in the opening half due to foul trouble, scored nine of his ten points and pulled down eight of his nine rebounds after halftime.

Christopher Newport held a 34-32 edge at the intermission after a back-and-forth first half that saw the teams exchange the lead nine times. The Captains grew the advantage to as many as 12 in the second half, 73-61, following a three-point play by Peterson with 2:46 remaining. The Marlins bounced back by scoring the next seven points to cut the lead to five with just 52 seconds left. The Captains re-gained control as Brodie scored on a driving layup and CNU closed out the Marlins by sinking six straight free throws (two each by Tyler Henderson, Brodie, and Aigner) in the final minute for the eight-point triumph.

The Captains out-rebounded the Marlins, 46-35, and have now won the battle of the boards in all nine wins this season. CNU held VWU to just 3-of-17 shooting on three-pointers for the night, while the Captains converted 9-of-20 from long range. Aigner, who was 3-of-6 from behind the arc, is now just one point shy of Carlos Heard for 19th place on the all-time CNU scoring list.

The game was the 88th in the all-time series, and the Captains now hold a 52-36 edge over the Marlins. Virginia Wesleyan fifth-year senior Tim Fisher led all scorers with 23 points and also pulled down a dozen rebounds as the Marlins fell to 4-7 for the season. Virginia Wesleyan's biggest lead was four points in the annual renewal of the rivalry, which dates back to 1968. Dave Macedo's squad has now dropped five of its last six games.

Christopher Newport registered the victory shortly after learning junior Devon Parrish will miss the remainder of the season due to a knee injury. Parrish suffered the injury on Tuesday night in CNU's 79-74 victory at Hampden-Sydney College.

The Captains have two more games remaining before Christmas, and will  travel to Washington for the DC Showdown. Christopher Newport will play the Generals of Washington and Lee on Monday and the Cardinals of Catholic on Tuesday. Both matinees will tip off at 2:00 p.m. at Catholic University.