(GREENSBORO, N.C.) — A strong second half propelled #15 nationally ranked Christopher Newport (11-1, 4-0) to a 90-60 victory over the Greensboro College men’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon. The Pride (6-6, 1-3) hung around in the first half, trailing 39-32 at the break before the Captains used a second half run to put the game away.
Things did not look good early as The Pride fell behind 9-0 to start the game. The deficit would soon be extended to 12-2 at the 15:35 mark.
Greensboro heated up from there, running off eight consecutive points, including back-to-back treys by Damian Dixon, to cut the margin to 12-10 with 13:50 to go.
The two teams traded buckets, with the Captains finally gaining a 21-14 lead with 9:22 showing on the clock. Luqman Tijani buried a three to bring The Pride back to within 21-17 before Christopher Newport brought the lead back to eight points.
With the Captains ahead 34-26 and looking to roll into the half, Greensboro scored the next four points on layups by Tijani and Raheem Martin to get back in the game at 34-30 with just over one minute to play in the half.
Christopher Newport would gain the upperhand just before the break though, as Rashon Woody nailed a long range three-point shot to give the Captains a 39-32 lead.
The Pride came out swinging early in the second half, narrowing the gap to 42-38 just 1:30 minutes in to the new frame. Christopher Newport responded with a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 49-38 with 16:43 remaining in the game.
The Captains continued to pour it on from there en route to the 90-60 final score. The victory keeps Christopher Newport perfect in the USA South.
Dixon tallied a team high 16 points and six rebounds for Greensboro. Also contributing were Tijani with 15 and Brian Thomas with ten.
The Pride shot 33.9% from the field and 30.8% from beyond the arc in the loss. Greensboro was narrowly outrebounded 36-35 and committed 12 turnovers compared to ten for the Captains.
The Pride will look to snap a two game losing skid on Wednesday January 9 at Methodist. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.