NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport used a 20-2 first half run to pull away from Mount St. Mary College Friday, and the Captains cruised to an 80-47 triumph in the opening round of the Crowne Plaza Captains Shootout. CNU improved to 9-1 with the victory, and the Captains will play Huntingdon College Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at the Freeman Center for the tournament title.

Sophomore Jason Aigner led the way for Christopher Newport, scoring all 25 of his career-high point total in the first half. Junior Nick Parks also reached double digits with 12. Aigner drilled seven three-point shots in the opening half, and Parks connected on three of his four long-range shots in the second stanza.

Christopher Newport held a 10-8 advantage in the first half before the 20-2 surge that improved the lead to 30-10. The Captains never trailed in the game, and led by as many as 36 in the final minutes en route to the 33-point verdict.

"We really got it going and all the threes opened it up for us," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "I really thought Mount St. Mary played good defense...they didn't allow us much inside and we had to take a lot of three-pointers."

The Captains ended up 15 of 43 from beyond the arc, while shooting 29 of 67 from the field overall for the day. CNU's defense held the Knights to just 27 percent shooting for the game (15 of 56), and held Mount St. Mary's top scorer, Kendall Francis, to just ten points. Francis had been averaging 24.4 points per game, tenth-best in the country. The Knights fell to 7-2 with the loss in the first-ever meeting of the schools.

The Captains out-rebounded the Knights, 54-35, and were led on the boards by junior Cutch Ellis, who pulled down nine in just 14 minutes of playing time. Senior Marcus Carter scored seven points and recorded eight rebounds. Carter is now tied for tenth place with Mike Cherry on CNU's all-time scoring list with 1,479 career points. 

Christopher Newport and Huntingdon will be playing for the first time ever on Saturday. Huntingdon is 4-5 entering Saturday's play, and the Hawks advanced by beating Alvernia Friday in the opening game of the tourney, 68-67.

"Huntingdon has a lot of talent, and they'll be a tough test for us," Krikorian continued. "They faced a lot of zone from Alvernia and came back to win. I know it will be a challenge." 

Alvernia, now 3-8, will play Mount St. Mary Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in the third-place game...followed by the CNU vs. Huntingdon Championship at approximately 4:00 p.m. This is the 22nd annual Captains Shootout, and Christopher Newport has won 15 of the first 21, including the last two.