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FORT WAYNE, IN. - Christopher Newport University has advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament for the seventh time, and the 15th-ranked Captains will take on the third-ranked Celts of the University of St. Thomas (Texas) Thursday afternoon. Tip off time is set for 1:00 p.m. at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
After arriving in Fort Wayne on Tuesday, he Captains had a one hour practice on Wednesday at the Coliseum, and also had a press conference prior to the practice session. Click
HERE to watch the press conference.
John Krikorian's Captains are 24-5 and appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the tenth consecutive time, the longest-running streak in Division III. Christopher Newport advanced on Friday night by winning over fourth-ranked Randolph-Macon College, 59-57, in the Sweet 16 in Ashland, Va. Junior big man
Ethan Ward led the way with a game high 14 points and eight rebounds in front of a standing room only crowd at Crenshaw Gymnasium. The Captains are led by junior guard
Toa Hollenbeck, who is averaging 18.8 points per game. Hollenbeck this week was named second team All-Region by D3hoops.com, and second team All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
CNU and the University of St. Thomas will be meeting for the first time ever. This is the Celts first trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, and are currently 29-1 on the season. St. Thomas advanced on Friday by beating Washington University, 65-63, in the round of 16. The Celts only loss this season came on November 15th at WashU in St. Louis, 54-53, and St. Thomas has a 26-game winning streak heading into Thursday's action. The Celts are led by junior guard Corey Thompson, who is scoring an average of 15 points per game. UST is located in Houston, Texas, and won the title of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC).
All Christopher Newport games are broadcast live on the Home of the Captains, Xtra 99.1 FM and CNUsports.com. The pre-game show Thursday will begin at 12:30 p.m.. A link is provided at the top of this story to access the live CNU Radio broadcast, as well as the live video broadcast produced by ESPN+.. Links are also provided at the top of this story to access the live stats, as well as the complete CNU game notes package and a link to purchase tickets.
The winner of Thursday's tilt will advance to play on Saturday in Fort Wayne in the National Semifinals against the winner of the Emory/Illinois Wesleyan game. Saturday's game will tip off at 5:30 p.m.
CNU has now advanced to the NCAA Tournament 12 times in 15 years under Krikorian, who is 31-10 all-time in NCAA games, 30-9 leading the Captains. Christopher Newport is now 40-27 all-time in NCAA play and is 13-2 in the last 15 games in the tourney, and 24-4 in the last 28.
The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is the site of CNU's National Championship win in 2023, when the Captains beat Swarthmore in the semifinal round and Mount Union in the National Championship game.CNU is 3-3 all-time in its six trips to the Elite Eight.
Following the National Quarter and Semifinals in Fort Wayne, Indiana, this weekend, the remaining two schools will play for the National Championship on April 5th in Indianapolis, Indiana.
