FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.- The Captains of Christopher Newport will play for the USA South Championship Saturday in Fayetteville, North Carolina. CNU, the top seed, got 21 points and 15 rebounds from sophomore Nik Biberaj in a 72-59 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan. The semi-final win Friday night at Crown Center Arena puts the Captains in the title game for the 25th time. Christopher Newport has won 14 previous tournament titles.

The Captains opened the lead to 13 at the half, 35-22, and then stretched their advantage to as many as 22 in the second half. The triumph improved the Captains record to 20-5 overall, the 14th 20-win season in program history.

Biberaj posted nine points and eight rebounds in the first half, and followed with 12 points and seven boards in the second half. It was his 10th double-double of the season.

"Nik was amazing tonight," Head Coach John Krikorian said following the win. "They did a really good job defending Tra (Benefield) but Nik and Evan Thorpe and Mike Cherry really stepped up."

Benefield, CNU's top scorer for the season averaging 19 points per game, was held to just three points on one-of-nine shooting. Cherry and Thorpe filled the void by both scoring 18 points.

The win was the fifth straight for Christopher Newport.

"We're playing well right now," Krikorian continued. "We thought coming in that we needed to win the rebounding battle to win this game, and we did (46-42). Our defense was strong, but we also got lucky. They missed some shots that I thought they would knock down."

CNU's defense held North Carolina Wesleyan to just 34 percent shooting, and limited senior Brandon Givens, the nation's leading scorer, to 19 points. He came into Friday night's action averaging 27 points per contest.

The Bishops saw their season come to an end at 16-11.

The Captains will play the winner of Friday night's other semi-final, Ferrum or Greensboro. Game time Saturday for the Championship Game is set for 5:30 p.m. at Crown Center Arena.