GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Rookie Tra Benefield led the way with 24 points with a couple huge buckets late in the game to lead Christopher Newport (11-5, 4-1) past Greensboro College (7-8, 1-3) in a back-and-forth battle today, 77-71. The Captains will return to action tomorrow to face Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C. with tip set for 4:00 pm.

The first half had a torrid pace, as both teams shot an impressive clip from the field. The host Pride was shooting 51.6% at the break on 16-31 shooting and the Captains were knocking down 64.5% of their shots on 20-31 shooting.

Both Benefield and junior guard Conley Taylor were on fire in the first half, as Taylor led the way with 16 points on 7-12 shooting and Benefield added 14 on 7-10. Senior forward Mike Green added nine in the first twenty minutes on an efficient 4-5 down low.

Greensboro managed to keep pace, going down just seven at the break, 43-36. Damian Dixon came off the bench and had 12 points on a perfect 4-4 from the field while Adam Powell and Daren Dexter each added eight points.

The second half would have a much different feel than the fast-paced first half, when the teams only combined for 11 fouls in a quick  20 minutes. After intermission, the two teams combined for 25 fouls and shot the ball at a cooler pace.

Greensboro opened the second half on a 9-2 run to tie the game back up at 45 on an Andre Porter free-throw with 13:09 remaining. Neither team would extend the lead past one possession until their was less than one minute remaining when the Captains were finally looking to ice the game. The game would teeter back into a tie 14 times, with the final draw coming at 69-69 with 1:09 remaining in the game.

After a timeout, the Captains would design a play to get Jake Capin open on the right wing, where he knocked down his third trey of the night to get CNU the three-point lead with under a minute to go. It started an 8-2 run to end the game that earned the Captains the win.

Benefield and Capin each came up big in the second half, knocking down five three-pointers between them. Benefield scored 10 points in the second half, while Capin added nine.

In the game, CNU shot 51.8% from the field, led by Benefield's 24 points on 11-19 shooting. Taylor finished the night with 23 points and Green added 15 to round out the double-figure scoring for CNU. Capin added nine and reserve Brian Herrmann had six, as the Captains got points from just five players. Herrmann added a game-high nine rebounds off the bench.

Greensboro was led by Daren Dexter, their leading scorer, with 21 points and seven rebounds. Alexander Moore came off the bench to add 15 points and Adam Powell joined Dixon with 12 as the Pride had four in double figures.

The Captains return to action out on the road tomorrow, as CNU will face Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C. at 4:00 pm.