SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Christopher Newport University opened a two-game series with the University of California-Santa Cruz Friday night, registering an 85-62 victory over the Banana Slugs at Kaiser-Permanente Arena. John Krikorian's squad improved to 16-2 and won its 13th straight game in the first meeting ever of the schools.

Christopher Newport opened the game by scoring the first 13 points, and built a 31-10 first half advantage. The Banana Slugs, now 2-14, rallied to cut their deficit to 11 at the intermission, 41-30. The Captains saw their lead shrink to nine before re-gaining control, going up by as many as 27 en route to the 23-point win. Sophomore Trey Barber led the way by recording his fourth double-double of the season, and second in a row, finishing with 18 points and 13 rebounds for the ninth-ranked Captains.

"Sometimes when you get started like that, you can begin to get a little careless," Krikorian said. "I was happy with the way we bounced back and then put together some good stretches in the second half. I also was thought we defended well for most of the night."

Sophomore Jahn Hines scored 16 points, reaching double figures for the 11th straight game. Senior Matt Brodie also reached double digits with ten points, including a run of six straight points for CNU in the second stanza. 

The Captains held UC-Santa Cruz to just 34 percent shooting for the game (22 of 64), and out-rebounded the Banana Slugs, 55-31. Christopher Newport continues to dominate the boards, and has out-rebounded its opponent in all 16 victories this season. Barber led all rebounders with 13, followed by nine from senior Darian Peterson. Christopher Newport drained 47 percent of its shots (32 of 68), and turned the ball over just 12 times. The Captains out-scored the Slugs in the paint, 52-26, and had 13 players get into the scoring column in the wire-to-wire victory.

Fifth-year senior Jason Aigner tallied eight points in the victory, and moved past Jermaine Woods into 14th place on CNU's all-time scoring list. Aigner has now scored 1,328 points in 108 career games played, and is 24 points shy of Ted Berry for the 13th spot.

The loss for the Banana Slugs was the tenth straight, and UC-Santa Cruz was led by 22 points and nine rebounds from Avri Finch. The game at Kaiser-Pemanente Arena, the home of the NBA's Golden State Warriors G League affiliate, had no fans present due to CoVID protocols. This is the first time in the 54-year history of the program the Captains have traveled to play in California. 

The Captains don't have much time to enjoy their victory in the Golden State, as the teams return to action on Saturday night, again at Kaiser-Permanente Arena. The re-match is scheduled to start at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time.