NEWPORT NEWS, Va.- The 16th-ranked Captains of Christopher Newport lost for the first time this season at home Saturday, dropping a 72-69 decision to Greensboro College at the Freeman Center. CNU is now 15-3 overall and 8-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

The Captains had won the last 13 meetings with the Pride, who improved to 11-8 overall and 5-5 in the USA South with the win. Greensboro led by as many as 24 in the second half before a furious CNU comeback.

"I'm really proud of the way we played in the second half," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "We kept fighting and just came up short. Greensboro played a great game "

The Captains trailed early, 9-2, but recovered from a rough start to tie the game at 15. The Pride then went on a 19-0 run to open up a 34-15 lead. CNU again bounced back and cut the deficit to 14 at the break, 40-26, thanks to a three-pointer at the buzzer by freshman D.J. Roberson.

In the second half, it was more of the same as the Pride opened the 24-point lead, its biggest of the game, at 65-41, with just under 16 minutes to play. The Captains then went on a 10-0 run to cut into the lead and begin the comeback.

"We didn't shoot well all night," Krikorian continued. "Defensively, we gave up a lot more than we usually do. Obviously, it made it tough trying to climb out of the hole."

CNU's comeback was led by sophomore Nik Biberaj, who scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half. Biberaj finished with 12 rebounds to go with his 19 points.

The Captains made it interesting to the final buzzer, cutting the lead as close as one, at 70-69 with 15 seconds to play. Greensboro converted on free throws to put the lead back up to three, 72-69, to set up a potential game-tying three-point attempt in the final seconds. CNU got two attempts in the final seconds, but both three-point attempts missed to seal the Greensboro win.

"We got two pretty good looks, but they just didn't go down," Krikorian said.

Senior Luqman Tijani led the Pride with 20 points as Greensboro finished with five players in double figures.

Freshman Evan Thorpe led the CNU scoring with a new career-high of 20 points. 

The Captains made just three of 19 from beyond the three-point line, while the Pride connected on 11 three-pointers on 25 attempts. 

CNU also hurt itself by missing 12 free throws, finishing 18 of 30 at the line.

The Captains return to action on Monday night with their final non-conference game of the season, a 7:30 start against Virginia Wesleyan at the Freeman Center.