SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Christopher Newport University remained undefeated Friday night after escaping with an 85-84 overtime victory over Washington and Lee University. The Captains, ranked fourth in the country, improved to 3-0 with the win in the opening game of the National Beef Susquehanna University Tip-off Classic.
Christopher Newport will play host school Susquehanna University Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the Championship game of the tourney. Susquehanna held off Lebanon Valley in the second game Friday night, 94-86. Washington and Lee will play Lebanon Valley at 1:00 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game.
Senior transfer
Rodney Graves scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, and contributed eight of CNU's ten points in the overtime period to propel the Captains to victory. Junior
Jahn Hines led the way in scoring with 26 points and also pulled down ten rebounds. Fifth-year senior
Matt Brodie posted 20 points, with 13 coming in the second half.
"That was obviously a great battle and we were fortunate to escape with a victory," Head Coach
John Krikorian said. "Washington and Lee is a really good team and can score a lot of points, and I thought we did well to hold them to 75 points through regulation. There were some points in the second half where we really needed somebody to step up and make a big shot, and fortunately we saw Rodney and Matt and Jahn do that."
Christopher Newport went up by as many as nine in the opening half, 21-12, before the Generals staged a comeback and used a 20-10 run to grab the lead, 32-31. The Captains would re-gain the lead at the intermission, 41-39. Washington and Lee then surged ahead in the early second half, using a 16-6 run over the first six minutes to take a 55-47 lead with 14:11 to play. The Generals would again take an eight-point advantage, 73-65, before CNU began chipping away in the final minutes. Brodie took over at the offensive end by hitting two big three-pointers and a two down the stretch as the Captains briefly moved back ahead, 75-73. Washington and Lee would force the extra period thanks to a jumper from junior Jack d'Entremont with five seconds left.
The extra period saw the squads continue to go back-and-forth, with Graves draining two three-pointers and sinking two free throws to account for eight of CNU's ten overtime points. The Generals would fail to score in their final possessions, including an attempt for a tip-in with one-tenth of a second remaining, as the Captains completed their escape. In all, the game would feature nine lead changes, as well as seven ties.
Washington and Lee, now 2-1, was led by d'Entremont's 25 points. Junior Robert DiSibio (24 points and 11 rebounds) and senior Sam Wise (12 points and ten rebounds) both registered double-doubles. The Generals out-rebounded the Captains, 51-40, for the night. Christopher Newport struggled shooting the ball, making just 33 of 79 shots (42 percent) and seven of 15 (47 percent) from the foul line.
The Captains will now play Susquehanna (2-1) for the second time in as many years. The teams met for the first time ever in March in the NCAA Tournament at the Freeman Center. The Captains posted an 81-67 victory over the River Hawks.
