NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University had four players reach double figures Sunday afternoon, as the 14th-ranked Captains defeated the University of Lynchburg, 79-74, at the Freeman Center. John Krikorian's squad improved to 7-2 with the victory, its fourth straight. The Hornets fell to 6-2, and had a five-game winning streak snapped. The five-point triumph came exactly three weeks after the Hornets beat the Captains in Lynchburg, 83-66.

"I'm really happy with the way we competed today," Krikorian said. "They're a very talented team, as we saw in the first game, and our energy level today was terrific. There were several key spots in the second half where we were able to stop their runs and keep the lead."

The Captains grew the lead to as many as 12 points in the first half, 32-20, before the Hornets used a 13-6 run to cut the advantage to five at the intermission, 38-33. Lynchburg pulled ahead briefly, for just 17 seconds, in the second stanza, 53-52, but the Hornets weren't able to build their edge to more than one point. Christopher Newport struggled at the foul line for much of the afternoon, sinking just 13 of 22 free throw attempts, but made its final six down the stretch to preserve the victory.

Senior Jason Aigner, playing in his 100th career game as a Captain, led the way with 17 points, and converted on his last six free throw attempts in the final minutes to help hold off the Hornets. Senior Darian Peterson added 14 points and seven rebounds, and also knocked down two free throws late in the second half. Sophomore Trey Barber scored 13 points and blocked seven shots, and  sophomore Jahn Hines added 12 points.

Lynchburg's Tharon Suggs led all scorers with 25 points, and tallied 17 in the second half comeback by the Hornets. TC Thacker contributed 18 points and 16 rebounds for Lynchburg, who nows leads the all-time series with the Captains, 14-10.

The Captains, now 6-0 at home this season, out-rebounded the Hornets, 43-41. Junior Devon Parrish came off the bench to give the Captains a lift with nine points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 28 minutes of playing time. CNU held a 21-4 edge on points off the bench for the game.

CNU knocked down eight three-pointers, including three from Aigner, who moved ahead of Terry Gray into 21st on the Christopher Newport all-time scoring list. Aigner has now scored 1,205 career points and is just eight behind Brandon Jones for 20th place on the list.

Sophomore Ian Anderson left the game with an ankle injury in the second half, and scored six points while pulling down five rebounds in 12 minutes played.

Christopher Newport travels to Farmville, Va., Tuesday to play Hampden-Sydney College. Tipoff time is set for 7:00 p.m. It will be the first meeting with the Tigers since the 1997 NCAA Tournament, when the Captains recorded a 79-74 victory, the exact score of CNU's Sunday win over Lynchburg. It will be the first meeting of the schools in the regular season since 1988.