NCAA Box Score
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — #22 Ferrum College connected on only 22-63 (35%) of its shots from the field in a tough, 80-67, USA South loss to Christopher Newport University on Saturday evening inside the Freeman Center.
Ferrum jumped out to an early 9-0 lead, capped by Derek Mitchell taking a feed from Nick English in for a layup. The Captains got on the board with a jumper from current USA South Rookie of the Week Tra Benefield to make it 9-2, almost three minutes into the contest.
The next possession, Daryl Hart drained a three and Mitchell later added a free throw to give the Panthers its' largest lead of the game at 13-2 with 16:35 remaining in the first frame.
A Benefield tip-in closed the gap to 18-16, but Marshall Hamilton came up with two huge back-to-back three pointers to push the Panther advantage back to eight, 24-16, halfway through the opening stanza.
A Conley Taylor drive at 7:37 to go in the half capped a 10-0 run by CNU (9-5, 2-1 USA South), to give the hosts their first lead of the game, 26-24. Marcus Mayo capitalized on a pair of free throws to tie the game, but CNU would finish the half in a fury.
Taylor scored nine of the Captains' final 11 first-half points to give them a 37-32 edge going into the break.
Ferrum (14-2, 3-1 USA South) battled hard to open the second half, tying the game on three different occasions; the last coming on a Lamont King jumper at the 11:49 mark to make it 48-48. The Panthers would only get a Mayo lay-in over the next four minutes to fall behind 60-50 with 7:24 left in game.
Keith Crump capitalized on a pair of free throws and King drained a jumper after a Hart layup to draw Ferrum back to within six, 62-56 with 3:07 remaining. The deficit would shrink to as little as five, 63-58, after a pair of King free throws, but CNU outscored the Panthers 17-9 the rest of the way to claim the pivotal USA South tilt.
The Captains went to the charity stripe a stunning 38 times, connecting on 32 of them (84%). Conley tied for game-high honors in points with 24.
Mike Green also had 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds on his way to posting one of two CNU double-doubles. Benefield had the other, chipping in 12 points and hauling in 10 boards.
Crump paced the Panther attack with 15 points. Mitchell notched a double-double following his 13-point, 10–rebound performance. Hart poured in 13 points, canning three shots from deep. King rounded out double-figure scoring for the visitors, netting 11.
Coach Bill Tharp's club continues its road swing at Shenandoah University, Wednesday, Jan. 19. The USA South battle gets underway at 7:30 p.m. in Winchester, Va.
