FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Christopher Newport University won its seventh straight game Saturday, as the tenth-ranked Captains ended the regular season with a flourish. Fifth-year senior All-American Jahn Hines scored 32 points and pulled down eight rebounds as CNU defeated the University of Mary Washington, 72-58, at Ron Rosner Arena. The victory marked the 400th career win for Head Coach John Krikorian, as his squad completed the regular season with a 21-4 record.

Jahn Hines scored 18 points in the first half, and added 14 more after intermission as he registered his fourth game over 30 points this season. He surged past Steve Artis into second place on CNU's all-time scoring list in the process, and has now scored 1,986 career points. Only Lamont Strothers, who scored 2709 career points from 1987-91, has scored more in the 57-year history of CNU men's basketball.

"John Hines was determined from the start, he was just the guy tonight, he absolutely willed us to this victory," Krikorian said following the win. "Jahn is always very good, but I think he reached an even higher level tonight. Mary Washington is a really good defensive team, they're scrappy and go for steals and really pose problems for teams to score. I think we matched them with our defense tonight, and in the second half really stepped up."

Krikorian who has led the Captains for the last 14 seasons, now has a mark of 334-76 at CNU and an overall coaching record of 400-118 over 18 seasons, including four seasons guiding the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.  

Saturday's game was tied nine times, including eight times in the opening half, and the lead changed hands five times. The Captains led by just one at halftime, 38-37, but out-scored the Eagles in the second half, 34-21, to pull away. Mary Washington briefly pulled ahead in the second half, 52-51 with 12:18 to play, but the Captains answered with a 13-0 run to hold a 64-52 edge with 5:05 to play. UMW could not get the lead back to single digits, and the 14-point final verdict was the largest lead of the night. 

"I think we really figured the game out tonight," Krikorian continued. "We didn't accomplish what we were looking to do in the first half, but made some big improvements in the second half. Our defense really made the difference in the second half."

Christopher Newport's defensive effort after the intermission held the Eagles to just 24 percent (9-of-37) shooting, and UMW shot just 33 percent (24-of-72) for the night. The Captains wound up shooting 51 percent (29-of-57) for the game and also dominated in the rebounding column, 46-29.

Sophomore Tyson Henderson joined Jahn Hines in double figures for CNU with 13 points. Mary Washington fell to 11-14 to conclude the regular season, and the Eagles were led in scoring by freshman Kye Robinson's 15 points.

The Captains will next head to Salisbury, Md., to play in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. CNU will play in the semifinals on Friday at the Maggs Center on the Salisbury University campus, and the championship game is set for Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.