SANTA CRUZ, Ca. - Junior All-American Jahn Hines led top-seeded Christopher Newport University to an 81-73 victory Friday afternoon over UC Santa Cruz. Hines scored 31 points to propel the Captains to their eighth straight victory, advancing CNU to the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship game Saturday. The Captains will play the Eagles of Mary Washington in the title game, which will begin at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. UMW defeated Salisbury Friday in the second semifinal game, 57-50.

Hines, a first team All-Conference selection and six-time Player of the Week in the league, scored 14 in the opening half and added 17 more after halftime as the Captains improved their record to 23-3 on the season. Hines made 12-of-17 shots, including three-of-four from long range, and came up just two points shy of his career-high of 33, scored earlier this season. Hines also added four rebounds and two assists, and scored his 31 points in just over 31 minutes of playing time.

Fifth-year senior Matthew Brodie also reached double figures by scoring 13 points, and pulled down five rebounds. Fifth-year senior Rodney Graves added nine points off the bench, and freshman Collin Hines posted five points and five rebounds.

The Captains, ranked third in the country and top-seeded in the C2C Tournament, never trailed in the game, held a 14-point lead at the intermission, 44-30, and stretched the advantage to as many as 20 early in the second half. The Banana Slugs, who finished the year with a 9-17 record, cut the advantage as close as eight in the second stanza, but could get no closer.

"It wasn't pretty, but we're happy to be playing for a Championship," Head Coach John Krikorian said following the triumph. "We had some moments of self-destruction in the second half, but fortunately we were able to recover and did enough to win the game."

The Captains shot 46 percent from the field, making 29-of-63 shots, and knocked down seven-of-20 from long range (35 percent). After turning the ball over only four times in the opening half, CNU committed 11 miscues in the second stanza to allow the Slugs to stay in striking distance. UC Santa Cruz out-scored the Captains in the second half, 43-37, and held a slight edge on the boards, out-rebounding the Captains, 38-37, for the day.

Senior Tyler Kessinger scored 17 to lead UCSC, and junior Ian McCloskey added 15. Senior Avri Finch (15) and fifth-year senior Eric DeBrine (10) also reached double digits. Christopher Newport now holds a 5-0 lead in the all-time series with the Banana Slugs.

The Captains will be looking for their second-straight C2C Tournament title on Saturday, and the automatic NCAA bid that goes along with it would propel CNU to its seventh-straight NCAA tourney. Saturday's Championship game will start at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time at Kaiser Permanente Arena. The Captains defeated the Eagles in both meetings this season in Fredericksburg, 67-53, and at the Freeman Center, 71-66. The schools met last year in the C2C title game, with the Captains prevailing at the Freeman Center, 80-69.