This past Saturday, the Captains and the rest of the Newport News community stood in solidarity with Richneck Elementary as they opened up for the first time since the shooting this Monday. About six hours before the game started, CNU Men’s Basketball posted on Instagram that everyone in the stands should wear green to show support for Richneck Elementary. All of the CNU Men’s Basketball players wore green, and the majority of the crowd did as well. 

The energy in the stadium was electric due to the fact that the Captains were going against their rivals Salisbury Sea Gulls that afternoon. An email from Francis Tommasino, Senior Athletic Director, that was sent the day before the game highlighted this fact. 

The email read:

Calling All Captains!

“The Christopher Newport men’s basketball team is 17-3 and ranked 4th in the nation…Saturday we host our longtime rivals, Salisbury University, in a 4 p.m. game at the Freeman Center.

All CNU students with current ID are admitted free…let’s rock the Freeman Center and cheer the Captains on to victory.

Also, wear green as we support our friends in the Richneck Elementary School community.

GO CAPTAINS!”

All Captains knew this was a must go-to game, and it showed because the student section was completely full.

The first quarter was full of excitement. The Captains were ahead for the majority of the game, but towards the end of the first quarter everyone became a little nervous. Salisbury were two points ahead, and there were only two minutes left in the quarter. The Captains managed to take the lead when Senior guard Ian Anderson took a chance on a loose ball and drove it all the way for a slam dunk the last few seconds of the second quarter. 

A few minutes into the second quarter, the Captains were back on top again thanks to Fifth Year Senior Matthew Brodie driving the ball for another slam dunk which put the score at 50-49. However, Salisbury continued to give the Captains a run for their money. The game was always close enough that the audience was on the edge of their seat, but after Fifth Year Senior Brandon Edmond scored a three-pointer making the score 62-58 all the Captains in the stands rested easily. The rest of the game was carried by Edmond scoring another three-pointer and a slam dunk as well as Junior Jahn Hines’ hustle. The final score was an 84-74 Captains win.