CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Christopher Newport University's winning ways came to a halt Friday, as the Captains fell in the opening round of the Jay Bilas Classic to seventh-ranked Emory University, 98-65. CNU, now 8-3, had a seven-game winning streak snapped by the Eagles, who won their fifth consecutive game and improved to 6-1 on the season. 

Only one Captain, junior Milyan Smith-Walker, reached double figures in scoring. Smith-Walker came off the bench and registered a new career-high of 11 points in just under 11 minutes of playing time. 

"Emory has a terrific team this year and we knew we would have to play extremely well to win the game," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "We don't have long to think about this one, we've got to come back tomorrow and be ready to play another good team in Denison."

The Captains never led the game on Friday, falling behind early, 11-2, and went on to trail at the half, 52-31. The Eagles, who average 93 points per game, reeled off ten straight points late in the first half into the start of the second half to open up a 23-point lead, and cruised to the 33-point victory.

Emory out-rebounded the Captains, 42-41, and shot 48 percent from the field for the game (33 of 69). The Captains, meanwhile, made just 23 of 66 shots (35 percent) and three-of-19 (16 percent) from beyond the three-point line. The Eagles did not commit a turnover in the opening half, and turned it over just three times in the second half. Emory big man Ethan Fauss led the Eagles effort with a game high 24 points. 

The game was the fourth in the all-time series, and Emory now holds a 3-1 edge. Last year on January 4th at the Freeman Center, the Captains defeated the Eagles, 83-76, when Emory was the top-ranked squad in the country. 

The two-day Jay Bilas Classic will continue on Saturday, with the Captains playing Denison University at 3:00 p.m. The Big Red of Denison is 6-3 after losing to the College of New Jersey on Friday, 76-66. The match up will be the first ever for the Captains and Denison, who had won four straight heading into the tourney before falling to the Lions.