NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University never trailed Tuesday night and five Captains scored in double digits as the fourth-ranked team in the country defeated Methodist University, 82-59. The victory at the Freeman Center improved CNU's record to 5-0 to start the season while the scrappy Monarchs dropped to 0-5.

The Captains led at the intermission, 44-27, before a 12-4 burst by the Monarchs to open the second half cut the advantage to nine, 48-39. CNU would recover and the Monarchs would get no closer the rest of the way. Christopher Newport's 23-point victory proved to be the largest margin of the night. 

Junior All-American Jahn Hines led the way with 13 points, followed by senior Ian Anderson's 12. Sophomore Ty Henderson netted 11, followed by freshman Collin Hines and junior Trey Barber with ten points each. Barber also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and blocked five shots. CNU out-rebounded Methodist, 48-24, and made ten of 19 three-point shots for the night. Although the end result and some of the numbers were positive for the Captains, there were also concerns voiced by their leader.

"I want to give Methodist the credit they deserve," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "I thought they played harder than us tonight and caused us to speed up, and that was their plan and it worked. If we want to be a team with goals and aspirations to be playing well into the post-season, this kind of effort isn't going to cut it. Certainly not to take anything away from Methodist, they were certainly part of the equation, but 20 turnovers and 11 missed free throws just isn't going to get it done. There was a lack of focus on our part, which we were worried about just two days before Thanksgiving, and we have a lot of work to do to continue our growth and development as a team."

Methodist was led by T.J. East's 13-point effort, while Clayton Coe added 11 points for the Monarchs. The meeting of the programs was the 94th in history, and the Captains now lead the al-time series, 68-26, and have won 12 straight. CNU and Methodist were longtime league-mates in the Dixie and USA South Athletic Conferences.

The win was the 999th in the history of Christopher Newport men's basketball, which is in its 55th year of competition. The Captains will look for program win number 1,000 on Saturday vs. Sarah Lawrence in the opening round of the Holiday Inn Invitational at the Freeman Center. North Carolina Wesleyan will play Eastern in the opening game Saturday at 2:00 p.m. followed by the CNU game vs. Sarah Lawrence at 4:00 p.m.