NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport improved to 10-1 on Saturday, beating Huntingdon College in the Championship of the Crowne Plaza Captains Shootout. The 79-52 victory at the Freeman Center was the fourth straight for the Captains, who completed non-conference play for the season with the triumph.

"This was a good way for us to head into Capital Athletic Conference play," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "I was pleased with the way we played, especially in the second half, and I think overall this weekend will help us to get better."

Four Captains reached double figures in scoring, led by junior Nick Parks' 17 points. Junior Luther Gibbs added 14, followed by senior Marcus Carter with 13 and sophomore Jason Aigner, who scored 11. Aigner was selected the MVP of the two-day tourney after adding to his career-high 25-point performance in CNU's victory over Mount St. Mary on Friday. Carter was originally selected the All-Tournament squad, but elected to instead present the honor to his teammate Parks, who scored 12 and 17 points in the two games of the shootout.

"That was a tremendous gesture in the locker room by Marcus," Krikorian continued. "That's the kind of person he is, and it shows how these guys feel about each other. We have a very unselfish mentality as a team, both on the court and off."

The Captains took control of the game early, building a 22-4 lead out of the gate. After the Hawks cut the lead as close as seven, 25-18, CNU surged to a 42-23 advantage at the intermission. Huntingdon used an early second half run  to climb as close as 11, 43-32. The Captains re-gained momentum and eventually went up by as many as 30 points, 79-49, en route to the 27-point final verdict.

Christopher Newport out-rebounded Huntingdon, 46-40, and the Captains had three players (Carter, Gibbs and Parks) with a game-high eight rebounds. CNU's defense held the Hawks to 29.7 percent shooting for the day (19 of 64), and forced 19 Huntingdon turnovers. The Captains also rejected nine shots, led by Gibbs' five rejections. 

Carter's 13-point effort Saturday gives him 1,492 points scored in 105 games as a Captain. He is now tenth on the school's all-time scoring list, 60 points shy of former teammate Aaron McFarland for ninth place on the list.  

Huntingdon fell to 4-6 with the loss, and the Hawks were led by senior Isaiah King's 12 points. Freshman B.J. Barker, who was named to the All-Tournament squad, and junior Aaron Washington each came off the bench to score ten points for HC. Earlier in the day Saturday, Alvernia College defeated Mount St. Mary College in overtime, 63-58, in the third-place game of the tournament. Anthony Dadsen of Alvernia and Kendall Francis of Mount St. Mary also were selected to the All-Tournament team.

The Captains will open the New Year and CAC play on Wednesday, hosting the Spartans of York College. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. at the Freeman Center. It will be the first of 14 conference games for Christopher Newport.