HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Christopher Newport men's basketball team took to the road on the busiest travel day of the year and opened their four game December road trip with a 68-59 win at Eastern Mennonite. The win improves the Captains to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 on the road. The Royals fall to 3-3 with the setback.
 
Senior Tra Benefield led four Captains in double figures with 19 points while adding 13 rebounds. It was the first double-double of the season for Benefield. He led a terrific rebounding night for CNU, giving up height at nearly every position and yet finishing the game with a +8 rebounding margin, 38-30. Seven of Benefield's rebounds came on the offensive end, leading the way for 13 total offensive boards. The Captains turned the second chance effort into points, holding a 17-6 scoring advantage after an offensive rebound. 
 
Evan Thorpe provided a necessary spark in the first half with 13 points, largely at the free throw line where he was seven of eight. Thorpe finished with 15 points while Connor Laframboise added 13 and junior guard Mike Cherry contributed 10.
 
The win was the first of four straight games the Captains will play on the road in early December and improves their record away from home to 2-0. Both wins have come against Old Dominion Athletic Conference competition. CNU beat Randolph-Macon 84-83 in Ashland.
 
"I thought we were locked in defensively and that is what you need to do to win on the road," said Head Coach John Krikorian. "We took a step forward today, and that is exactly what we were looking for from tonight's game."

The win would not come easily as the home team made a run in the second half to take a lead and force CNU to spark a rally of their own to come from behind for the victory. Though the Royals would never lead by more than two in the game, a three-pointer from R.J. Sims would give them a 53-51 advantage with 6:08 remaining in the game. It was the final shot in an 11-4 run that gave Eastern Mennonite it's first lead since the first half. Cherry would knock down a three on the very next possession -- the first of three straight trey's including two from Laframboise -- that would teeter CNU back in front by seven. A lay-in by rookie Rayshard Brown with 2:43 remaining gave CNU its largest lead of the night, at nine, and the Captains would coast to victory down the stretch.

The Royals were led by three players in double figures as Marcel Crump finished with a game-high tying 19 points, followed by James Williams' 15 and Sims' 13 points. David Falk added 10 rebounds and three blocks for the home team.

The Captains shot 43.9% from the field, including 46.2% from beyond the arc with six made three-pointers. 
 
CNU returns to action Wednesday night in Buena Vista, Va. against Southern Virginia University. The Knights enter Wednesay's game with s 1-3 record and are coming off of their first win of the season over St. Joseph's. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live on the Christopher Newport/Pepsi radio network. The game will be streamed live in high definition at CNUsports.com/LIVE.