Newport News, Va. – Marymount University's men's basketball team dropped a 76-69 decision on the road at Capital Athletic Conference newcomer Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon. The Saints fall to 11-4 overall and 4-3 in league play.
Michael Anderson led the Saints with 21 points while Antonio Rouse added 16, Jesse Konadu chipped in 13 and Reed Scott had 12.
Marymount pounded the ball down low, outscoring the Captains 34-18 in the paint, but was undone by CNU's (11-4, 4-3 CAC) hot night beyond the arc. Christopher Newport hit 13 three-pointers in the game at a 59.1% clip.
A back-and-forth first half saw nine lead changes in all. The Captains used an 8-0 run to take a 17-10 lead halfway through the frame but Marymount kept with CNU shot-for-shot and slowly began to chip away at the lead. A layup from Devin Morrow at the 2:27 mark put MU back ahead 26-25 but Christopher Newport closed out the half on a 6-1 run to take a 31-27 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Marymount kept pace with its host as CNU couldn't manage to pull away until it took a 48-38 lead with 10:47 remaining. The Saints kept fighting, cutting the deficit to a few as four points on multiple occasions including a Konado layup with just under four minutes to play to make it a 63-59 ballgame. Christopher Newport then hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and the Saints weren't able to pull any closer than five points the rest of the way.
Tra Benefield led Christopher Newport with 26 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Marymount returns to action on Wednesday as it hosts Salisbury in CAC play. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. and fans can follow the action live by logging on to livestats.prestosports.com/marymount/.