2019 CAC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

Christopher Newport captured its third Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Men's Basketball Championship in four years on Saturday (Feb. 23) with a 78-56 victory over York (Pa.) inside the Freeman Center on the campus of Christopher Newport University. 

The top-seeded Captains also celebrated with the conference hardware in 2016 & 2017. This is the sixth season for CNU as members of the CAC, and it was the sixth straight title game appearance for the Captains.

CNU's Marcus Carter posted a career-high 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. Tyler Femi also had a big game on the boards pulling down 13 rebounds in the victory. Cutch Ellis also poured in 14 points for the Captains.

CNU led by as many as nine points in the first half after firing 48.1 percent from the floor and owning a 13-5 points off turnovers and an 18-6 points in the paint advantage. Carter guided the Captains to a 32-24 halftime edge with 14 first-half points, while Jared Wagner led the Spartans with nine points.

York began the second half on an 10-2 run to knot the contest at 34 all less than three minutes into the contest. However, CNU's Marcus Carter and Savonte Chappell responded with triples on consecutive possessions to spark a 19-4 run over the next 6:47 and extend the Captains lead to 53-37 and putting the game out of reach.

The Captains are now 25-3 overall on the season and earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which is expected to be released at 12:30 pm this Monday. The Spartans, the #2 seed in the CAC tournament, are currently 21-7 on the year. York was led by Darin Gordon's 14 points in the loss.

This contest was the second ever conference tournament meeting between the two programs, with the other being last year's conference title game defeat in which York prevailed on the road, 82-73.

2019 CAC Men's Basketball Tournament Schedule

First Round - Tuesday, Feb. 19 
Game 1: #1 Christopher Newport 89 def. #8 Southern Virginia 59
Game 2: #4 Salisbury 78 def. #5 Frostburg State 76 (OT)
Game 3: #2 York (Pa.) 76 def. #7 St. Mary's (Md.) 47
Game 4: #3 Mary Washington 65 def. #6 Penn State Harrisburg 51

Semifinal Round - Thursday, Feb. 21 
Game 5: #1 Christopher Newport 87 def. #4 Salisbury 71
Game 6: #2 York (Pa.) 69 def. #3 Mary Washington 62

Championship - Saturday, Feb. 23
Game 7: #1 Christopher Newport 78 def. #2 York (Pa.) 56 | BOX SCORE | VIDEO