It certainly wasn't easy, but Christopher Newport University improved to 3-1 to start the men's basketball season Saturday afternoon, defeating a stubborn Eastern University squad in the third-place game of the Dick Leftwich Tipoff Tournament. The Captains recorded an 83-72 victory over the Eagles at the Cregger Center on the campus of Roanoke College.

CNU shook off a sluggish start to outscore the Eagles in the second half, 50-36, en route to the 11-point victory. Sophomore Trey Barber led the way, finishing with 28 points, six rebounds, and six blocked shots. Barber netted 19 of his points in the second half as the Captains overtook the Eagles. Sophomore Jahn Hines posted a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Two fifth-year seniors also came up big for the Captains as Jason Aigner drilled five three-pointers and tallied 17 points, and Adrian Beasley scored 13, with 11 coming after halftime.

"I think we showed great resiliency today coming off a tough game last night," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "We were concerned coming into the game just how aggressive Eastern's guards would be defensively and how we would respond. In the second half we got some great individual contributions to help secure the victory."

Eastern, now 1-2, held a 36-33 lead at the half, and the Eagles went up by as many as ten points (47-37) early in the second half. The Captains trailed by a 53-45 margin midway through the second stanza before out-scoring the Eagles, 38-19, down the stretch. CNU grabbed a 60-57 advantage thanks to a 15-4 run and never again relinquished the lead.

The Captains and Eagles were tied seven times, and exchanged the lead seven times in the first meeting ever of the schools. CNU connected on 13 of 19 foul shots (68 percent) to help put away the Eagles, making 10 of 15 at the charity stripe in the second half. Freshman Ty Henderson scored all six of his points in the second half, going six for six at the foul stripe.

Both squads shot well from the field, with the Captains making 28 of 55 shots (51 percent) and Eastern converting 31 of 65 attempts (48 percent). The Eagles were led by fifth-year senior big man William Blet, who scored 21 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Christopher Newport posted 83 points in both games of the tournament. The Captains lost Friday night to third-ranked Marietta College of Ohio, 86-83, in the opening round of the two-day tourney. Host school Roanoke improved to 2-0 by defeating Marietta in the championship game of the tourney, 77-68, in the second game Saturday at the Cregger Center. The Pioneers of Marietta are now 1-1.

The Captains now have an eight-day break before returning to action next Sunday, November 21, at Lynchburg. Tipoff time is set for 4:00 p.m.