Arlington, Va. – Marymount University's men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle 59-56 to visiting Christopher Newport in the Capital Athletic Conference regular season final on Saturday.  Despite the loss, the Saints earn the sixth-seed in the upcoming league tournament and their first bid to the draw since the 2009-10 campaign.

Reed Scott led the Saints with 11 points while Michael Anderson and Danny Ferry added eight each.

Marymount (15-10, 7-9 CAC) trailed by seven points with just 1:38 to play but wouldn't go down without a fight.  Five unanswered points over the next 81 seconds made it a one possession game courtesy of an Anderson jumper with 17 ticks remaining on the clock.  With the Saints forced to foul, CNU (17-8, 9-7 CAC) could only convert the front end of the two free throws to give the Blue and White another chance but Ferry's three-pointer just missed the mark.  Forced to foul again, the Saints benefited from another two missed Captain free throws but Anderson's attempt just before the buzzer fell short as well.

A back-and-forth first half saw seven ties and a pair of lead changes in a highly contested game from start-to-finish.  Trading leads early, CNU held no more than a two possession advantage for most of the opening frame before the Saints rallied late to lead 29-25 at the 1:57 mark courtesy of a 9-0 run over the previous five minutes.  The Captains then whittled the lead down before forcing a 31-31 tie into halftime.

Coming out of the break, it was more of the same with roles reversed for the first 15 minutes of action.  Marymount would lead by as many as six up 46-40 at the 11:13 mark before CNU rallied to tie things up at 47-47 four minutes later.  Tied again at 50-50, the Captains put together an 8-1 run to retake the lead and set up Marymount's late comeback attempt.

Tra Benefield led Christopher Newport with 17 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double.

Marymount returns to the hardwood on Tuesday as it to face St. Mary's (Md.) in the CAC First Round.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.