Box Score

DANVILLE, Va. — Christopher Newport University handed Averett a 77-56 USA South Conference loss on Saturday at the Grant Center.

The first half was a tightly contested game before Christopher Newport (17-5, 10-3 USA South) made a run to take a 38-28 lead into halftime. The Captains then pulled away in the second half by shooting a high percentage, dominating the boards and winning the transition game.

CNU, which shot 56.6 percent from the floor for the game, never lost a comfortable lead in the second half. The Captains also outrebounded Averett 40-25 overall as Tra Benefield poured in a team-high 20 points. Mike Cherry and Nik Biberjaj finished with 18 points and 16 points, respectively.

Averett senior Justin Pierce led the Cougars with 26 points. In the process, he pushed his career total to 1,201 points and surpassed both All-American Jonathan Rumley and Jay Tate on the program all-time scoring list to move into sole possession of fourth place.

The Cougars also got eight points from sophomore Sunil Ram, seven points from junior Paul Porter and six points off the bench from freshman Carter Jones.

Averett jumped on CNU early on as the Cougars built a 17-11 lead in the opening half. The two teams battled back and forth the rest of the half before the Captains went on a 12-2 run to end the period.

Averett plays its regular season finale on Sunday against Maryville College at 4 p.m. The Cougars will honor their senior class prior to the game.