VIRGINIA BEACH -- Christopher Newport University's 2013-14 Captains did something many teams before them were unable to do ... they defeated Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins on the VWC court.

The Captains (7-1) needed overtime to do it, but they got their first win over VWC since the 2001-02 season as Terry Jackson (Portsmouth/Woodrow Wilson) and Tra Benefield (Folkston, Ga./Evangel Christian, Va.) supplied all 11 points for CNU in the extra period.  Jackson gave CNU a 74-72 lead in OT and Benefield padded it to 77-72 with a big triple seconds later. 

VWC battled back to pull within an 81-80 score on a triple byD.J. Woodmore (Virginia Beach/Landstown) with 1:35 on the clock, but Benefield followed with a layup to make it an 83-80 game.  After the teams traded turnovers, VWC owned the ball for the final shot, but a triple attempt with four seconds remaining missed the mark and CNU snapped VWC's 12-game winning streak in the series.

It also marked the first loss of the season for the Marlins (7-1), who entered the game ranked No. 6 nationally by D3hoops.com and No. 5 in the BennettRank.  It was a game that exposed a VWC weakness, at least on Sunday at the Jane P. Batten Student Center ... free throw shooting.  The Marlins connected on just 15-of-29 attempts.

Missed free throws led to key rebounds by CNU, which finished the game with a 43-32 advantage.  The Captains did most of their damage on the boards on the offensive side however, pulling down 18 caroms that led to second and third attempts at scoring.  Tim Daley (Richmond/James River), a 6-foot-6 rookie, led the Captains with seven rebounds.

Virginia Wesleyan started off strong, taking a 7-0 lead that extended to 16-7 after rookie Khory Moore (Arlington/Wakefield) hit three conescutive triples. SeniorAaron Clark (Chesapeake/Virginia Beach Tallwood), rookie Brandon Mitchell (Albany, Ga./Westover), and Woodmore all followed with triples as the Marlins opened up their largest lead of the game at 30-18 with 9:57 remaining in the first half.

CNU took a timeout at that point and returned to the court with a more focused attack that produced an 11-0 scoring run, led by Benefield with six points.  It was the start of a 25-8 scoring run by the Captains in the final 10 minutes of the half, leading to a 43-38 CNU lead at halftime.

Mike Cherry (Lewiston, N.C./Bertie) gave CNU its largest lead at 45-38 early in the second half, before VWC started to cut it away. Woodmore scoring helped pull the Marlins closer, a triple by Cameron Owens (Centreville/Centreville) cut it down to 51-49 and junior Greg Montgomery (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) scored on a three-point play to return he lead to VWC at 52-51 with 12:50 remaining to be played.

There were two ties and four lead changes in the final minutes. VWC led 72-70 following a three-point play by Colby Heard (Virginia Beach/Tallwood) with 1:19 on the clock, but Evan Thorpe tied the game with two free throws with 59 seconds showing.  VWC had two shots in the final seconds, including a triple, but could not get them to drop, sending the game into OT.

Woodmore led VWC with 25 points, hitting 8-of-17 field goals, including 5-of-9 triples.  He increased his career total to 1,521 points, moving him into the No. 7 spot among VWC's all-time leading scorers.  Woodmore is the eighth Marlin player to score 1,500 or more career points.

Heard hit 5-of-6 shots and finished with 13 points, and Montgomery was 4-of-4 en route to 10 points. Sedric Nady (Virginia Beach/Landstown) passed out a game-high six assists. The Marlins hit 13-of-28 three-point attempts, led by Woodmore with five and Moore and Clark with three each.

Benefield led all scoring with 30 points, hitting 13-of-22 field goal attempts, including three triples. Jackson followed with 18 points and Daly contributed with 10.

Virginia Wesleyan will attempt to rebound from its first loss on Tuesday, Dec. 17, when it visits the University of Mary Washington.  The 7-1 Eagles enter the game off a 66-64 win over No. 12 ranked St. Mary's College of Maryland.

--AMDG--