NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Freshly minted the 16th-ranked team in the nation, the Christopher Newport Captains improved to 9-1 overall, 2-0 against USA South competition, with a 76-58 victory over Ferrum College (5-6, 2-1). Junior Tra Benefield led the way, narrowly missing his second straight 30-point performance, finishing with 27 while adding 10 rebounds. 

CNU dominated the paint in the contest, outscoring the Panthers 54-20 close to the basket. Benefield led that effort with a pair of thunderous dunks in key moments for the Captains. The first came on the first possession after a media timeout in the first half. After stretching an early lead to nine, 19-10, the Captains nearly let the advantage slip away as an 11-6 Ferrum run made it a two-possession game, 25-21. Benefield answered a three-pointer by JD Wallace with a mid-range jumper and then, out of the timeout, slammed home an alley-oop off a beautiful pass by senior point guard Paul Meredith. 

With the lead back to eight, the Captains held on into halftime, taking a 40-30 lead into the locker room. Benefield led all scorers with 13 points on 4-of-8 from the field, adding a 5-of-6 performance from the free-throw line. Nik Biberaj and Mike Cherry each added eight points and rookie Hunter Wetherell had a solid half, chipping in five points with a dunk of his own. 

At the break, CNU was already outscoring the Panthers 26-8 in the paint, and also held a 10-2 advantage in points off of turnovers. The Captains forced eight first half turnovers and blocked four shots, holding Ferrum to 34.5% shooting. 

It was a scorching run to open the second half that would lead CNU to victory, as the Captains continued to pressure inside. After a free-throw for Ferrum to start the second half, CNU scored 16 straight points including 14 from inside the paint. A jumper by Brian Clarke ended the 16-point surge, but Benefield picked up a layup on a fast break and then slammed home another dunk with 12:33 remaining to punctuate a huge 20-3 run to open the second half. The dunk gave CNU it's largest lead of the game, at 27 points, 60-33. 

Led by Josh Bruce, Ferrum looked to make a run with long-range shooting, but would get no closer than 13. Bruce hit a trio of three-pointers, and Ed Valentine knocked one down as well as the Panthers tried to chip away. A putback by leading scorer Lamont King with 2:29 remaining got Ferrum back within 13, 70-57, but Benefield again built the lead, scoring four of the next five points to ice the victory. 

King finished with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds for the Panthers. Ferrum shot just 33.9% in the game, including a 6-for-28 performance from long-range, hitting just 21.4% of three-point attempts. 

CNU was led by Benefield's fourth double-double of the year, with 27 points and 10 rebounds, adding one block and one steal. Biberaj had a balanced game, scoring 10 points with nine boards, five assists and two steals. Cherry also finished in double figures, with 18 total points. 

As a team, the Captains shot 46.9% (30-64) and finished with 21 points off of turnovers. CNU has now won four straight games overall and with the win, ran their conference winning streak to 16 dating back to the end of the 2010-11 season. 

The No. 16 Captains will return to action this weekend as they hit the road for a pair of conference games. CNU will take on Methodist University this Saturday, January 5 at 4:00 pm, followed by a 4:00 pm tip on Sunday, January 6 at Greensboro College.