NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University won its fourth straight game Saturday, defeating the top team in the country, Emory University, at the Freeman Center. The 83-76 victory improved the Captains to 13-3 on the season, while the Eagles suffered their first loss in 11 games played.

Fifth-year senior All-American Jahn Hines led the way with 19 points, one of four Captains to reach double figures in scoring. Sophomore Tyson Henderson scored 18, with 12 coming in the second half, and sophomore Toa Hollenbeck (17) and junior Collin Hines (10) also reached double digits.

"You only get so many chances to win big games, and we took advantage of that opportunity today," Head Coach John Krikorian said. "I thought our guys really battled and fought through adversity and executed, for the most part, everything we wanted to do today. Just a great effort against a really good program."

An early 10-0 run gave the Captains a 10-4 advantage, and CNU eventually pushed the lead to eight in the first half, 20-12. Emory, now 10-1, battled from behind and cut the lead to one at the half, 35-34.

The Captains led for most of the second half, and extended the advantage to 12, 65-53, on a three-pointer from Henderson with 7:35 to play. The Eagles would not back down, going on a 19-7 run to tie the game at 72-72 on a triple from junior Jair Knight with 2:36 to go. 

CNU grabbed the lead back quickly, just 12 seconds later, when Henderson drained another three-pointer to put the Captains ahead to stay. The triple started an 11-4 run that sent the Captains to the seven-point triumph. Jahn Hines scored four points in the f inal minutes, two at the line, junior Hasan Hammad knocked down a jumper, and sophomore Jason Ofcarcik sank two free throws to help seal the win. Sophomore Ethan Ward blocked the game's final shot to send the Freeman Center crowd of 643 home happy.

"We talked about it a lot, how Emory can score in bunches," Krikorian continued. "Even when we were up by 12, it didn't really feel comfortable. They hit a few big shots, but we answered with some terrific shots of our own and some good defensive stops too. It took some magnificent efforts by our guys to put this away...it was a true team effort."

Jahn Hines' 19-point effort moved him into sixth place on the Christopher Newport all-time scoring list. He passed Tra Benefield, and has now scored 1,796 career points in 110 games as a Captain. Hines is now 25 points behind Conley Taylor for fifth place on the all-time list.

CNU shot 44 percent (33 of 75) from the floor for the day, and converted 54 percent in the second half (19 of 35). Emory made just 26 of 77 attempts (34 percent), and the Eagles were just eight-of-30 from long range (27 percent). Collin Hines recorded his second double-double of the season for the Captains by leading the squad in rebounds with 11 to go with his ten points. Emory out-rebounded the Captains for the day, 51-46.

The Eagles were led by junior Ben Pearce, who scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half.Knight, who was averaging 20 points per game, was held to 13, and converted just three-of-20 shots from the field. Two Emory players recorded double-doubles, as senior Logan Shanahan tallied 14 points and ten rebounds, and Knight finished with 13 points and ten boards.

Christopher Newport plays its next four games on the road, and don't play again at the Freeman Center until February 1st. The Captains, ranked 18th in the last national poll before the holidays, will travel to Baltimore on Wednesday night to take on the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. Johns Hopkins has a record of 5-5 following a 78-72 victory at Stevenson on Saturday.

"I think Johns Hopkins has played one of the toughest schedules in the country, so they are battle tested," Krikorian concluded. "We're going to have to play as well as we did today or better to win that game. Fortunately, we've got a few days to prepare and get some rest after this great victory."