The University of Mary Washington men's basketball team dropped a 78-71 decision at fourth ranked Christopher Newport University on Wednesday evening in Coast to Coast Athletic Conference play. The Eagles slip to 15-6 on the season.

The teams traded baskets in the early going, as the Eagles knotted the score at 5-5 on a Riley Welch three pointer after falling behind, 5-0. The lead would change hands three times in the next few possessions, and an Anias Saunders jumper put the Eagles ahead, 11-8, with 13:18 remaining. After the teams again battled to back-and-forth scoring, another Welch three pointer with 9:05 left gave UMW a 20-15 advantage.

Welch hit his third triple of the first half to keep the Eagle lead at five, at 25-20, and Daniel Peterson followed with a layup to push the UMW lead to 27-20. Zach Blue followed with a basket to give UMW a game-high nine point lead with 5:12 left, and the Eagles carried a six-point lead to halftime, 33-27.

CNU quickly seied the lead in the second half, with ten straight points to open play. A pair of Da'Shawn Cook baskets and a score from Welch kept the Eagles within two points, And a traditional three point play from Welch knotted the score at 43-43 with 14:22 remaining. A pair of Welch free throws gave the Eagles the lead, and a three from Blue maintained it in the next stretch. The Captains would score seven straight in a key stretch midway through the second to take a 55-50 lead. 

The Captains extended the lead to nine before Ra'Shawn Cook and Da'Shawn Cook scored baskets to draw back to within 66-62 with 6:40 remaining. Two Emmanuel Aghayere free throws with 2:03 returned the margin to 71-67, and a Colin Coyne dunk followed to bring the Eagles back to within two, 71-69, with 1:27 left. A pair of Saunders free throws with 56 seconds left brought UMW to within 73-71, but CNU scored a layup and three free throws in the waning seconds for the win.

Welch led the Eagles with 20 points on 6-8 shooting, while Da'Shawn Cook scored 15 and Coyne added 10 points and eight rebounds.

UMW shot 43.5% from the field (27-62), making 4-15 three point baskets and 13-19 free throws. CNU shot 42.6% (26-61), making 6-20 three point tries and 20-28 free throws.

The Eagles will host Salisbury University next Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. in another C2C matchup.