Barber’s best game lifts Captains to C2C repeat

Trey Barber scored a careerhigh 29 points Saturday as Christopher Newport made its latest trip west worthwhile, defeating Mary Washington 65-52 in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, California.

The Captains (24-3), ranked third nationally by d3hoops.com, beat the Eagles for the third time this season and cut down the nets in the G League Santa Cruz Warriors’ home court as Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blared in the background.

The repeat championship was especially sweet for Barber, who transferred from Mary Washington to CNU after one season. He hit 13 of 16 field-goal attempts, grabbed eight rebounds and made two steals.

“He was just phenomenal, and I think the guys did a great job finding him and feeding him,” CNU coach John Krikorian said in a radio interview after the game.

Barber was the only Captain who scored in double figures, though Ty Henderson had nine rebounds and seven assists. CNU outrebounded UMW 42-31.

On Monday at about 1 p.m., CNU will learn its assignment in the NCAA Division III Tournament, likely for a Friday game. It will be the Captains’ seventh consecutive appearance, and they’ll take a nine-game winning streak into it.

UMW (18-8) could be a candidate for an at-large berth.

The Eagles led for most of the first half, though Henderson’s 3-pointer just before the buzzer gave CNU a 26-23 halftime lead.

Mary Washington led briefly in the second half, but a 7-0 CNU run increased the margin to 54-44 and all but sealed the Captains’ title repeat.

With star Jahn Hines limited to six points and 20 minutes because of foul trouble, CNU reserves got to play plenty of minutes.

“We have every confidence in these guys,” Krikorian said.