MARIETTA, Ohio. - Christopher Newport University jumped to a 16-0 lead in the opening minutes Friday and continued its dominant performance throughout, cruising to a 93-54 victory over Stockton University of New Jersey. The Captains won their 24th straight game, never trailing in the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament Sweet 16 battle at Marietta College.

Christopher Newport advances to the Elite 8 of the tourney, and will play Saturday night at 7:00 p.m against host Marietta College with a trip to the Final Four on the line. The Pioneers defeated Oswego State, 89-81, in the second game of the night.

Fifth-year senior Jason Aigner drained seven three-pointers, including five in the first half, and led the way with 23 points. Sophomore Jahn Hines posted 13 of his 19 points in the opening half, and senior Darian Peterson recorded a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds. The Captains, now 27-2, held a 50-27 advantage at the intermission, and pushed the lead to as many as 40 in the final minutes of the second half, 90-50. 

"We got off to an amazing start and were able to build on it through the whole game," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "I thought our intensity and focus never shifted. Even though we had some foul trouble, we got some really strong performances off our bench to maintain the lead."

Junior Nick Thomas scored ten points off the CNU bench, and seniors Tyler Trimble (eight points) and Matt Brodie (seven points) helped the Captains out-score the Ospreys off the bench for the game, 30-17.  

Christopher Newport, ranked fourth in the country, shot 55 percent for the game, making 39 of 71 shots, and converted 11 of 23 from long range for 48 percent. CNU's defense held the Ospreys to just 21 of 71 shooting (30 percent), and Stockton knocked down just three of 20 attempts from beyond the arc (15 percent).

Stockton's season ended with a mark of 26-5, and the Ospreys had a ten-game winning streak snapped by the Captains. Junior DJ Campbell scored 12 points and junior Kyion Flanders added 11 in the 39-point defeat. It was the first time the schools had ever met in men's basketball.

CNU dominated the boards, out-rebounding Stockton, 53-34. Sophomore Trey Barber led all rebounders with 11 and also had eight points and six blocks for the Captains. Barber is fifth in the country in blocks, and the Captains lead the nation in blocked shots per game (6.7 heading into the game).

Aigner's 23 points give him 1,464 for his career in 119 games. He is 12th on the school's all-time scoring list, and is now just 15 points shy of Mike Cherry for 11th place. Peterson's double-double was his ninth of the season, and he has now posted double digits in points and rebounds in eight of his last ten games.

Friday's victory at Ban Johnson Arena on the Marietta campus advances the Captains to their fourth Elite 8 appearance in program history. CNU has won two of the previous three Elite 8 battles, advancing to the Final Four in 2015-16 and 2018-19.

Saturday's opponent, Marietta, is 28-2 and the Pioneers are ranked second in the country and riding a 26-game winning streak. CNU played Marietta at an early-season tournament at Roanoke College on November 12th, and lost to the Pioneers, 86-83. Marietta has won two of three games over the Captains in the all-time series.

"It's such a privilege to be still playing, and I think our guys realize how special it is to get this far in the tournament," Krikorian continued. "March Madness brings out some great performances...and it's all about surviving and advancing. There's not much time to enjoy what we accomplished today, now we look to Saturday, and we're going to be ready to give it all we've got."

Captains fans traveling to Ohio can purchase tickets for Saturday night's game vs. Marietta  by following these instructions. Christopher Newport tickets for Saturday's game will be sold on Saturday morning from 8 a.m. until 12 noon. by clicking on the following link: https://pioneers.marietta.edu/sports/2020/10/12/online-ticketing.aspx

Follow these instructions once you open the link. Click the button for the game, and then scroll down to a button that says 'Have passcode?' 

1. Click 'Have passcode' and enter this exclusive code:  CAPTAINS22 (all caps, case sensitive). 
2. The option to buy adult, senior or student tickets will then appear. 
3. After noon on Saturday, this code will no longer work and fans can only buy tickets from the general admission pool.   

If you have trouble accessing the ticket link, please contact Wendy Thieman (thiemana@marietta.edu) or Larry Hiser (lrh001@marietta.edu) for additional information. Once the passcode times elapse, all unsold tickets will become general admission tickets for sale until game time or sell out, whichever comes first.