Men's Basketball Uses 57-Point Second Half To Down Castleton St., 90-68

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Christopher Newport's men's basketball team scored 57 points in the second half to upend Castleton (VT) St., 90-68, Saturday night in the Freeman Center.

In the second half, the Captains out scored the Spartans, 57-36. CNU was sharp from the floor, connecting on 24-of-41 (59%) shots from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. The Captains defense stepped up as well in the second half, holding Castleton to just 15-of-42 (36%) shooting from the field, 3-of-10 from long range and 3-of-6 from the line.

CNU led by as many as 25 in the second half when Kelvin Franklin's lay up put the Captains on top, 90-65 with less than a minute to go in the game. Rich Reilly's three-pointer with two seconds left provided the final margin.

The Captains led by as many as 11 in the first half, 31-20, on Mark Blasingame's bucket with 5:59 left. The Spartans would step up their defense and hold CNU to just two points over the final six minutes of the first half. Castleton finished the opening stanza on a 12-2 run to cut the lead to 33-32 heading into the intermission.

Neither team was very sharp from the field. The Spartans were just 11-of-34 (32%) from the floor but were 5-of-10 from behind the arc and just 5-of-10 from the line. CNU finished the first half 14-of-36 (39%) from the field, 4-of-11 (36%) from long range and 1-of-1 from the stripe.

For the game, the Spartans were 26-of-76 (34%) from the field, 8-of-20 (40%) from behind the arc and 8-of-16 from the free throw line. Christopher Newport was 38-of-77 (49%) from the floor, 5-of-16 (31%) from downtown and 9-of-11 (82%) from the charity stripe.

Reilly led Castleton with 22 points on 6-of-21 shooting but was 6-of-8 from long range. He also had six assists. Jeremy Jorgensen added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Zach Briggs finished with a game-high 14 rebounds.

Edward Riley paced the Captains with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting. He scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half. He also finished with seven boards. Blasingame contributed 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven swats in the win.

The Spartans fall to 1-4 on the year. CNU improves to 4-2. The Captains have the next two weeks off before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 16 when CNU hosts Frostburg St. at 2 pm.

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