Men's Basketball Upended By NC Wesleyan, 92-85

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Christopher Newport's men's basketball team lost its first conference game of the year Tuesday night as the Captains fell to NC Wesleyan, 92-85.

The Bishops were led to victory by Lenny Hall who scored 31 of his game-high 38 points in the second half.

The Captains, who led 37-31 at the break, gave up the lead with 16:28 to play when Hall's lay-up put the Bishops up one, 45-44. NC Wesleyan extended its lead to four just three minutes later on Jarvis Cobb's three-pointer to lead 56-52 with 13:29 left in the game. The Captains would counter with a 20-9 run to go up by seven, 72-65, with 9:21 left on Donta Selden's three-pointer.

NC Wesleyan however would go on a 16-7 run to take the lead for good with 3:47 remaining on a Hall lay-up. The Bishops would lead by as many as 10, 89-79 with 33 seconds left, Selden would hit two three-pointers in the closing half-minute for the final margin.

Both teams struggled from the floor early in the first half, but the Bishops would hit a stride to take a 14-8 lead with 12:15 left in the first half. CNU tipped the scales in its favor by going on a 12-2 run to lead 20-16 with 7:53 left on Selden's lay-up. The two teams would be pretty much even for the remainder of the half, as the Captains led by six at the break.

The Bishops had a tremendous second half shooting from the floor, finishing 20-of-40 (50%) from the field, 3-of-7 (43%) from downtown and 18-of-24 (75%) from the line. This after shooting just 34% from the floor and 4-of-12 from long range in the opening half. NC Wesleyan finished 33-of-78 (42%) from the field, 7-of-19 (37%) from behind the arc and 19-of-25 (76%) from the line.

Christopher Newport also shot 50% (18-of-36) from the floor in the second half, 4-of-10 from beyond the arc and 8-of-11 from the line. For the game, CNU was 34-of-72 (47%) from the field, 5-of-18 (28%) on three-pointers and 12-of-17 (71%) from the charity stripe.

Hall finished 12-of-23 from the field, including 3-of-6 on three's and 11-of-14 from the stripe. He also had a game-high 12 rebounds. Trey Drake added 15 points and six assists while Adam Coleman contributed 13 points and seven boards.

The Captains were led by Donta Selden's 27 points off the bench on 11-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. He also had six rebounds and five steals. Korey Lewis added 21 points and 11 boards while Mark Blasingame finished with 14 points, six rebounds and a season-high nine blocks.

NC Wesleyan levels out at 7-7 overall and improves to 2-0 in the conference. CNU falls to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in the USA South. Christopher Newport returns to action Saturday as they host Ferrum with tip-off set for 4 pm.

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