NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University won the Holiday Inn Captains Shootout Friday night at the Freeman Center, beating Stevenson University in the Championship game, 71-51. Senior All-American Jahn Hines led the way by scoring 24 points, 22 in the opening half, as CNU improved to 11-3 on the season.

Hines, who made ten of 14 shots, also contributed seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals as the Captains won the first meeting ever with the Mustangs. Hines was selected the MVP of the two-day tournament after scoring 42 total points in victories over Old Westbury and Stevenson.

'Jahn had a very efficient tournament," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "He's very deserving of the MVP, and kept us going at the offensive end in the first half. These two games were a huge step in the right direction for him."

The Captains trailed just once all game, 2-0, and after grabbing an early 3-2 edge never fell behind again. Hines concluded the opening half by sinking a three-pointer on the buzzer to give the Captains a 34-17 advantage at the intermission. The Mustangs, now 6-5, never got closer than 16 in the second half as the Captains opened up a lead of as many as 26. Freshman Hasan Hammad got the hot hand in the second half, knocking down five three-pointers to finish with 19 points. Hammad was selected to the All-Tournament team.

"Stevenson presented some great challenges for us, it certainly was not easy and they're very stingy on defense," Krikorian continued. "Overall, I think we had another good day defensively and on the glass, and once we started hitting threes we were able to pull away a bit."

The Captains out-rebounded the Mustangs, 40-30, and freshman Ethan Ward led the CNU effort with eight rebounds.

Hines' 24-point effort moved him into 21st place on CNU's all-time scoring list, passing CNU greats Terry Gray and Brandon Jones with his effort on Friday. He has now scored 1,221 career points, and is 21 points shy of Carlos Heard for 20th place on the scoring list.

Stevenson was led by junior Cameron Smith, who scored nine points and recorded nine rebounds, and was also named to the All-Tournament squad. NJ City defeated Old Westbury in the third-place game. Amadi Lee-Kane of Old Westbury and Ryan Savoy of NJCU were also named to the All-Tournament team.

Christopher Newport has now won four straight games, and the Captains will open 2024 with two games in Georgia. CNU will travel to Berry College to play on New Year's Day Monday. Tip off time is set for 2:00 p.m. CNU will then play at Emory on Wednesday, January 3rd, with the tip scheduled for 3:00 p.m.