Christopher Newport Men's Basketball Falls to Keene State in NCAA Sweet 16
Christopher Newport's season came to a close with a 68-64 defeat to Keene State in the NCAA Sweet 16 on Friday night at Babson, ending the Captains' 21-game game winning streak. The CAC champion Captains conclude the year at 27-3.
Keene State advances to the Elite Eight and will face Babson on Saturday. Babson defeated Tufts 87-80 in the other sectional semifinal.
CNU held a 36-28 lead at halftime, and went ahead by as many as 12 in the second half, 45-33. The Owls, now 22-9, took their first lead, 51-50, with 9:47 to play and ended the game on a 35-19 scoring run.
Juniors Marcus Carter and Aaron McFarland led the Captains in scoring with 16 and 12 points apiece, respectively.
Christopher Newport struggled in the shooting columns, converting on just 9-of-23 (39.1%) from the charity stripe, 9-of-33 (27.3%) from beyond the arc and 23-62 (37.1%) from the field overall.
Keene State lost to the Captains last year, 74-62, in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in a game played in Oswego, N.Y.