The seventh ranked University of Mary Washington men's basketball team rolled to an 88-58 victory over 10th ranked Christopher Newport University on Saturday night in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Championship in Santa Cruz, California. The Eagles, winners of two straight C2C Championships, improve to 24-3 on the season, and gain the league's automatic bid to next weekend's NCAA Tournament.

After the Captains opened with a 6-3 advantage in the opening minutes, both offenses stalled, as the Eagles used a pair of free throws from sophomore Ulysses Young with 13:37 left in the first to draw to within 6-5. CNU went ahead, 11-7, with 12:40 left, before junior Jadon Burgess converted a three point play and junior Jay Randall followed with a basket to give the Eagles their first lead of the night, at 12-11, with 11:28 on the clock.

Randall followed with another basket, which seemed to kick start the offenses, as the teams then traded made baskets until a free throw form sophomore Kye Robinson, followed by a basket from junior Kaden Bates and a three pointer from junior Hasan Hammad gave UMW a 23-18 edge. Robinson extended the run with a pair of free throws, and a layup from Bates with 4:36 left in the first gave the Eagles a 27-18 lead.

Back to back threes from Robinson and Burgess upped the margin to 11, at 1:43, but CNU drew to within seven at halftime, at 40-33.

A 6-0 run to start the second, keyed by a pair of Randall baskets, gave the Eagles a 46-33 cushion, and a three from Young and a pair of Robinson free throws upped the margin to 18, at 53-35, with 15:12 left in the game. Two jumpers from Randall and a three from Robinson swelled the lead to 20, at 62-42, and a pair of Robinson free throws gave UMW a 77-51 lead with 4:15 left.

Young sank a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left for a game-high 32-point lead, and the Eagles found themselves up, 88-58, at the final horn.

Robinson led four Eagles in double figures with 22 points on 4-9 shooting from the floor and 12-14 from the free throw line. Randall scored 18 8-12 shooting, Young scored 14, and Bates 13 in a balanced offensive attack. Robinson and Burgess led with seven rebounds each, and Randall led with three assists.

The Eagles, even after a slow start, shot 29-54 from the floor (53.7%), making 9-19 three point attempts and 21-28 free throws. CNU shot 33.3% (22-66), with 3-21 three point makes and 11-12 free throws. The Eagles led, 34-31, in rebounds, and caused 14 Captain turnovers.

Mary Washington advances to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years, winning the automatic bid from the league for the second straight year. The Eagles will look to gain a host spot in the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show coming on Monday at 1:00 p.m. at ncaa.com.