Men's Basketball | 2/24/2012 9:54:00 PM

Box Score NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - After two upsets in the first round of the USA South Men's Basketball Tournament, the higher seeds prevailed in the semifinals pitting No. 1 Christopher Newport against No. 3 Greensboro in the championship Sunday. Methodist (9-18) battled CNU tight early, but the Captains ran away it with late to earn the 97-62 win.
 
Christopher Newport (22-4) took the 10-4 lead, but baskets from James Whitehead and Terrell Stallings moved the Monarchs back within two points. CNU led 23-18 when the Monarchs scored seven straight points to take their first lead at 25-23 on a 3-pointer from Whitehead. Both teams traded baskets with Whitehead's layup giving Methodist the 27-25 lead with 5:33 left in the first half. The Captains came back with an 11-2 run of their own to regain control and closed the half with the 38-33 advantage.
 
CNU opened the second half with a three, but Methodist's Mark Jernigan drained a jumper at the other end and converted the free throw after the foul to keep the Monarchs within five. With 14:51 remaining Kyle Combs put one back to cut the lead to four at 49-45. Six minutes later and Christopher Newport had hit five 3-pointers and led 70-47. The outside shooting was too much for the Monarchs as the Captains led by as many as 38 before finishing with the 97-62 win.
 
Whitehead led Methodist with 15 points while Bryan Hockaday had 12 points and seven rebounds. Jernigan finished with 11 points.
 
Conley Taylor had 27 points for CNU on 5-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. The team finished 59 percent from the 3-point line for the game after shooting 9-for-11 in the second half.
 
Methodist wraps up their season 9-18 while CNU will host Greensboro on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the conference tournament championship.
 
Box Score