The seventh ranked University of Mary Washington men's basketball team rolled to an 88-58 victory over 10th ranked Christopher Newport University on Saturday night in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Championship in Santa Cruz, California. The Eagles, winners of two straight C2C Championships, improve to 24-3 on the season, and gain the league's automatic bid to next weekend's NCAA Tournament.
After the Captains opened with a 6-3 advantage in the opening minutes, both offenses stalled, as the Eagles used a pair of free throws from sophomore Ulysses Young (5'11''-G) with 13:37 left in the first to draw to within 6-5. CNU went ahead, 11-7, with 12:40 left, before junior Jadon Burgess (6'3''-G) converted a three point play and junior Jay Randall (6'4''-F) followed with a basket to give the Eagles their first lead of the night, at 12-11, with 11:28 on the clock.
Randall followed with another basket, which seemed to kick start the offenses, as the teams then traded made baskets until a free throw form sophomore Kye Robinson (6'2''-G), followed by a basket from junior Kaden Bates (6'3''-G) and a three pointer from junior Hasan Hammad (6'3''-G) gave UMW a 23-18 edge. Robinson extended the run with a pair of free throws, and a layup from Bates with 4:36 left in the first gave the Eagles a 27-18 lead.
Back to back threes from Robinson and Burgess upped the margin to 11, at 1:43, but CNU drew to within seven at halftime, at 40-33.
A 6-0 run to start the second, keyed by a pair of Randall baskets, gave the Eagles a 46-33 cushion, and a three from Young and a pair of Robinson free throws upped the margin to 18, at 53-35, with 15:12 left in the game. Two jumpers from Randall and a three from Robinson swelled the lead to 20, at 62-42, and a pair of Robinson free throws gave UMW a 77-51 lead with 4:15 left.
Young sank a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left for a game-high 32-point lead, and the Eagles found themselves up, 88-58, at the final horn.
Robinson led four Eagles in double figures with 22 points on 4-9 shooting from the floor and 12-14 from the free throw line. Randall scored 18 8-12 shooting, Young scored 14, and Bates 13 in a balanced offensive attack. Robinson and Burgess led with seven rebounds each, and Randall led with three assists.
The Eagles, even after a slow start, shot 29-54 from the floor (53.7%), making 9-19 three point attempts and 21-28 free throws. CNU shot 33.3% (22-66), with 3-21 three point makes and 11-12 free throws. The Eagles led, 34-31, in rebounds, and caused 14 Captain turnovers.

Courtesy of UMW.com

C-2-C Final:

Mary Washington - Christopher Newport 88-58

C-2-C Semifinals:
Mary Washington - Salisbury 55-46
Christopher Newport - UC Santa Cruz 77-74, OT

C-2-C Quarterfinals:
Salisbury - Warren Wilson 83-72