FERRUM, Va. -- The Captains and USA South Athletic Conference's leading scorer Conley Taylor splashed a huge three-pointer and was fouled with 39 seconds remaining, converting the free-throw to tie the game and force overtime on the road against #19 Ferrum (21-3, 10-1), but Christopher Newport (15-8, 7-3) was outscored 16-4 in the extra time, dropping a 95-83 final on the road.

The final regular season home game for the Ferrum Panthers featured a high-octane scorefest for both teams, led by the Panthers seniors. Seniors Derek Mitchell and Keith Crump led the way, as Mitchell scored 23 points while grabbing 22 rebounds, while Crump added a game-high 26 points, including 13-14 from the free-throw line.

The two teams battled back and forth until the overtime period, as Ferrum took a six-point lead into halftime, 43-37, and the Captains outscored Ferrum in the second half, 42-36.

Rookie Tra Benefield and senior Mike Green led the way early, as each scored 11 points in the first half. Joining Taylor, the Captains top three scorers did the bulk of the scoring in today's game, combining for 72 of CNU's 83 total points.

The Captains cut into the Ferrum lead early in the second half and turned the game into a see-saw battle for the majority of the second half. The score was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands 17 times in the game as seemingly each team answered the other with a big play down the floor. The last of which came when Ferrum took a four-point lead with under a minute to play on a layup from Crump. That set up the mammoth three-pointer from Taylor, who knocked it down from 24-feet just outside the top of the key. He was fouled by Lamont King and proceeded to knock down the free-throw and tie the game at 79.

The Captains took an early lead in the overtime period, as Taylor knocked down another extra-point play, with a traditional three-point play to put CNU up 82-81. Ferrum, though, ran off a 14-1 run to end the game and seal the win over the Captains.

The story of the game came down to the free-throw line, as Ferrum dropped 31-38 from the charity stripe, while CNU managed just 14-24 for a 58.3% night. The Panthers went 10-12 from the line in the overtime period.

Taylor and Green led the way with 25 points, while Benefield had a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Paul Meredith had eight assists and five rebounds, while Matt Preston added seven points and seven boards.

Christopher Newport returns home for the final two regular season games of the year, as CNU will host Methodist and Greensboro next weekend. CNU hosts the Monarchs at 7:30 on Friday, February 18 and then Greensboro at 6:00 pm on Saturday, February 19.