ARLINGTON, Va.— The Marymount (Va.) University men's basketball team held its own in a tight Capital Athletic Conference matchup on Sunday evening against No. 6 Christopher Newport University, but the Captains pushed through for a 70-57 decision. 

Although the Captains dropped in the opening bucket of the game, the Saints grabbed the early momentum with an eight-point run and two game-stopping blocks by junior Dimitri Rucker. In the stretch, senior Michael Anderson, junior Alex Danko, sophomore Brandon Rogers, and freshman Ibrahim Kamara all contributed points. 

CNU eventually worked back into the game, retaking the lead several minutes later. It wouldn't hold though, as the Saints continued to battle, trading the advantage with the Captains for the remainder of the first half. Back and forth ended the half in favor of CNU by just one, as MU went into the locker room trailing 29-28. 

Rucker's eight-point first half fueled a strong start for the junior forward in the second half, answering a three pointer by the Captains with four points and an Anderson free throw to put the Saints up one, 33-32, early on in the restart. 

The game remained close for the beginning part of the half until a six-minute scoring drought by the Saints pushed a double-digit advantage for the Captains, a lead that would be enough to hold out for the win. The Saints attempted to cut the deficit, including a a stretch where Rogers scored seven-straight points. The consistency, however, by the Captains was too much on the offensive end to eliminate any chance to overcome the spread for the Saints. 

Rogers and Rucker paced the offense for the day with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Rucker added a season-high four blocks, five rebounds and three assists. Danko commanded the boards for the Saints with a team-high seven rebounds. 

The men will hit the road for their next contest, traveling to No. 15 Salisbury University on Wednesday, January 11. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.