Men's Basketball Advances To USA South Championship By Downing NC Wesleyan, 96-77

NEWPORT NEWS, VA — Christopher Newport's men's basketball team won a hard fought battle to advance to the championship game of the USA South Conference Tournament by defeating NC Wesleyan 96-77 Friday night in the semifinals.

Both teams got off to a track meet type of start in the first half. CNU trailed by as many as five in the first half, 34-29 with 5:06 left on a tip-in by Reggie Washington. CNU trailed by four, 46-42 with 1:11 left in the half before closing it out with five straight points. Edward Riley's lay-up in the paint with 49 seconds left cut the lead to two. After a missed jumper by Lenny Hall, Donta Selden came down and drained a three-ball with five seconds left to take a 47-46 lead into the break at halftime.

The Bishops were 17-of-37 (46%) from the field in the opening stanza, 7-of-17 (41%) on threes and 5-of-8 (63%) from the free throw line. The Captains were 16-of-31 (52%) from the floor, 7-of-11 (64%) from beyond the arc and 8-of-14 (57%) from the charity stripe.

In the second half, the teams battled back and forth with each team drawing a technical foul. After NCW's technical on Washington at the 14:27 mark for taunting, the Captains hit stride and never looked back. The score after the technicals was 59-57 NC Wesleyan. CNU then went on a 30-10 run over a six minute span to lead by 18, 87-69 with 5:27 left in the game on two free throws by Davon Barton.

NC Wesleyan was limited to just 10-of-38 (26%) shooting from the field in the second half, 0-of-9 from beyond the arc and 11-of-16 (69%) from the charity stripe. The Captains finished the half 15-of-28 (54%) from the floor, 5-of-10 on threes and 14-of-18 (78%) from the line.

For the game, the Bishops were 27-of-75 (36%) from the floor, 7-of-26 (27%) on threes and 16-of-24 (67%) from the stripe. CNU was 31-of-59 (53%) from the field, 12-of-21 (57%) from behind the arc and 22-of-32 (69%) from the free throw line.

NC Wesleyan was led by Lenny Hall's 29 points on 8-of-23 shooting, 2-of-10 from behind the arc and 11-of-12 from the line. Emanuel Alston added 15 points, Jarmel Arrington finished with 11 and Mathias Haut contributed 10 points.

CNU was paced by the hot shooting Jeremy Romeo with a career-high 29 points on 8-of-15 shooting including 6-of-11 on threes and 7-of-9 from the line. Selden contributed 15 points and seven assists, Korey Lewis added 12 points and seven boards, Mark Blasingame contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds and four blocks. Edward Riley added 11 points and eight boards off the bench.

The Bishops conclude the year 9-18 overall and CNU improves to 19-7 and will face Averett in a rematch of the 2000-2001 conference championship game starting at 2 pm on Saturday.

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