NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket

Christopher Newport advanced to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Semifinals following a 79-70 victory over #19 Williams on Saturday (March 9). CNU extended their win streak to 13 games and will face Swarthmore on Friday (March 15) at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Arena in Ft. Wayne, Ind.

CNU's Marcus Carter continued his impressive postseason run with a game-high 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting with five rebounds, five assists and three steals in the victory. Savonte Chappell came off the bench to pour in 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 7-of-7 from the foul stripe. 

Christopher Newport fired 48.1 percent for the contest and went 20-for-26 from the charity stripe. The Captains dominated the points off turnovers category (27-7) as they forced Williams into 17 miscues. CNU led by as many as 13 points in a contest featuring only one lead change and two ties.

The Captains Final Four opponent, #6 Swarthmore, defeated #14 Nichols by a 69-65 decision. The Garnet, members of the Centennial Conference, were led by 20 points from Zac O'Dell in the win. Game time for the semifinal game will be either 6:00 or 8:00 p.m. Wheaton (IL) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh also advanced Saturday and will meet in the other semifinal next Friday in Fort Wayne.

Carter's 27-point outburst moved him into fifth on CNU's all-time scoring list. He has now scored 1,809 career points and is just 12 points behind Conley Taylor for fourth on the list. The fifth-year senior made nine of 16 shots from the field Saturday, including two from distance. He also connected on seven of nine at the foul line, and pulled down five rebounds. 

CNU's other trip to the Final Four came in the 2015-16 season, when the Captains finished 30-2 after losing to St. Thomas (MN) in a semifinal game in Salem, VA. CNU's 29 victories this season is second only to the 30 registered during the Final Four campaign.