SALISBURY, Md. — Christopher Newport University was plagued by poor shooting Saturday night, and the eighth-ranked Captains fell to the University of Mary Washington, 71-66, in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship game. The Captains, the top seed in the four-team tourney, fell to 22-5 and the defeat snapped a streak of three straight C2C tournament titles for John Krikorian‘s squad.
Mary Washington, now 13-14, receives the NCAA Division III Tournament automatic bid by virtue of the victory. With the five-point victory, the Eagles snapped a 14-game losing streak to the Captains dating back to 2019, including two losses this season.
The Captains shot just 36 percent from the floor, and were two-of-20 from three-point range. Fifth-year senior All-American Jahn Hines led the Captains with a 25-point performance, including 18 points in the second half. Sophomores Jason Ofcarcik (13) and Tyson Henderson (10) also reached double digits for CNU.
Mary Washington held an eight-point lead at halftime, 34-26, and held on despite being out-scored by the Captains in the second half, 40-37. CNU’s shooting improved following a nine-of-34 effort in the opening half (27 percent) to 47 percent in the second half (15 of 32). The Captains briefly took the lead, 55-54, on a Jahn Hines layup with 6:19 to play, but the Eagles quickly bounced back ahead just 17 seconds later on two free throws from sophomore Jaden Burgess and never again relinquished the lead. UMW made seven-of-eight free throws in the final two minutes of the game to salt it away, and knocked down 26 of 30 at the charity stripe for the night (87 percent).
Sophomore Jay Randall led the Eagles attack, scoring 26 points. Fellow sophomore Burgess added 16, and graduate student Zach Blue logged ten. UMW was able to pull out the victory at the Maggs Center on the Salisbury University campus despite being out-rebounded by the Captains, 47-34. Junior Collin Hines topped the squad with nine boards, and also dished out a team-high seven assists. Jahn Hines posted eight rebounds in addition to his team-high 25 points, which gives him 2,028 career points in 121 games as a Captain.
CNU now leads the all-time series with Mary Washington, 42-8, and the Captains had won 23 of the last 24 meetings prior to Saturday night’s title game. Christopher Newport advanced to the final by beating UC Santa Cruz on Friday in the semifinals, 84-78, while Mary Washington knocked out host Salisbury, 60-55, on Friday in the other semifinal.
Christopher Newport will wait for word on its status for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division III selection show is scheduled for 12 noon on Monday, March 3rd. The Captains have played in the last eight NCAA Tournaments, and won the National Championship in 2023. Christopher Newport is looking for its 28th all-time NCAA bid in the 57-year history of men’s basketball.
