The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped a 79-68 decision at sixth ranked Christopher Newport University on Wednesday night in Capital Athletic Conference play. The Eagles fall to 11-11 on the season, and 7-8 in Capital Athletic Conference action.

Christopher Newport opened the game on a 7-0 run, and would never trail in the contest. After a three point basket raised the CNU lead to eight, the Eagles would trim the margin to three, at 10-7, after a John Lutkenhaus three pointer and two Brent Mahoney free throws.

Midway through the half, the Captains upped the lead to nine, at 23-14, but the Eagles would keep the margin between four and nine throughout much of the half. In the waning minutes of the half, CNU hit several three pointers to raise its advantage to 12, at 44-32, at halftime.

In the second half, the Eagles would make several runs at the Captains - who improved to 21-1 on the year - but each time CNU would answer to return the lead to double figures. Eric Shaw and TJ Jones each had 10 points in the second half, while Mark Madison added nine.

In all, Jones led the Eagles with 18 points on 7-15 shooting, while Shaw added 17 while shooting 6-15. Madison had 11 and junior Matt Forrest had nine off the bench for the Eagles.

Mary Washington shot 43.4% from the field (23-53), making 5-13 three pointers and 17-20 free throws. Christopher Newport shot 45.8% from the field (27-59), making 12-30 three pointers and 13-15 free throws. The Captains led in rebounding, 41-26, and the bench for CNU outscored UMW, 38-14.

The Eagles will be back in action on Saturday when they host Marymount University at 3:00 p.m.