Live Video // Live Stats // Game Notes
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University men's basketball returns from a ten day break on Saturday, as the 17th-ranked Captains host the Tigers of East Texas Baptist University. Tip off time is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Freeman Center. The Captains will then take on another Texas school, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, on Sunday, also starting at 4:00 p.m.
John Krikorian's squad has won six straight games, and 13 of its last 14. The Captains upped their record to 14-3 with a 68-65 victory over Johns Hopkins University on January 7th at the Freeman Center in their last game played. Junior
Toa Hollenbeck led the way for CNU by scoring 18 points, and is averaging just over 18 points per game this season to lead the squad. Hollenbeck, who's been named the Player of the Week in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference three times this season, went over the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier this month. He became just the 35th player in the 58-year history of CNU men's basketball to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Saturday will mark the first meeting ever between the Captains and Tigers of East Texas Baptist, while Sunday's game with Mary Hardin-Baylor will be the second meeting ever of the schools. East Texas Baptist has a record of 5-12 coming into the weekend, while Mary Hardin-Baylor is 12-5. CNU and UMHB played in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament on March 10, 2023, with the Captains prevailing by a score of 72-60 at the Freeman Center. The game was the third of six won by the Captains in the tourney on the way to the National Championship.
Saturday's action at the Freeman Center will be a part of a triple header, and games will begin at 2:00 p.m. when the Christopher Newport women's squad takes on Salisbury University. Following the CNU-East Texas Baptist game at 4:00 p.m., the Salisbury men's squad will play Mary Hardin-Baylor at approximately 6:00 p.m.
Tickets for the games will be available at the Freeman Center Ticket Office prior to the action Saturday and Sunday. Christopher Newport games are broadcast live on the Home of the Captains, Xtra 99.1 FM and CNUsports.com. The pre-game show will begin at approximately 3:40 p.m. both days. The video of the action will be streamed live and links to watch the game as well as to follow the live stats are provided at the top of this story, as well as the link to the complete CNU game notes package.
This is the 25th season for the Captains in the Freeman Center, and CNU is now 329-62 (.841) in 391 games all-time since the building opened in 2000. CNU is 7-1 at home this season, was 13-2 at home last year, and 12-2 at home in the 2023-2024 season. The Captains are 12-3 all-time in NCAA games at the Freeman Center and have compiled a record of 196-24 (.891) in its last 220 home games dating back to the 2010-11 season,
John Krikorian's first at CNU...and 93-8 (.921) at home since the start of the 2018-19 season.
Two games will be played on Sunday as East Texas Baptist will play Salisbury at 2:00 p.m. followed by the Captains vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor at 4:00 p.m.
