Box Score 

LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall fell to No. 9 Christopher Newport 74-66 in the championship game of the William Marshall Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday evening. The Diplomats dropped to 1-1 on the season, while Christopher Newport improved to 3-1.

F&M jumped out to a 5-0 lead on its first two possessions, courtesy of a layup and three-pointer from Justin Kupa. Christopher Newport wrestled away control with a 10-0 run of its own over the next two minutes of play.

That slim Captains lead held true for the early parts of the first half until the 11:05 mark, when F&M's Ignas Slyka drilled a three, and Solomon Mathis followed with a jumper of his own to knot things at 21.

The Captains made quick work of regaining control, scooping in a layup, then forcing turnovers on two straight Diplomat possessions and punctuating the ensuing fast breaks with dunks for a 27-21 edge with 10:06 remaining.

Christopher Newport's lead grew to eight at the 5:17 mark behind a Matthew Urbach triple, but the Diplomats remained resilient. A 6-0 run by the Diplomats behind a pair of jumpers from Solomon Mathis and a Kupa layup with 3:17 remaining closed the gap to two. The Captains were able to grow their lead to five before the end of the half for a 42-37 lead at the break.

F&M closed the gap with an 8-0 run over a four minute span in the second half, punctuated with a Matt Redhead layup at the 13:32 mark that tied the game at 47-47. Christopher Newport went back on top with a quick 4-0 spurt, and the two sides continued the back-and-forth play for the next ten minutes of the half.

A three-pointer from the Captains' Nick Parks with 3:08 remaining extended the lead to nine, and a one-and-one conversion from Ian Anderson a minute later moved the Christopher Newport lead to double digits for the first time all evening at 68-57.

Back-to-back layups pushed the Christopher Newport lead to 14 with only 40 seconds remaining. The Diplomats finished on an 8-2 run in the final seconds for the final eight point margin.

Christopher Newport shot a blistering 54.9% from the field, including nine of 17 from three. The Captains also held the rebounding edge 35-22, and had assists on 17 of their 28 field goals. The Diplomats finished with 46.4% from the floor.

Justin Kupa paced the Diplomats with 23 points, while Solomon Mathis added 22 of his own on 10-of-15 shooting. Kupa was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 17.5 points per game over the weekend.

The Captains were led by Jason Aigner's 19 points, most of which came from his five three-pointers. Aigner was named the tournament MVP, after making ten three-pointers in the tournament. Nick Parks finished with 14, and Luther Gibbs ended with ten points and seven boards.

F&M returns to action next Friday, November 22nd with a non-conference road tilt against Albright.

William Marshall Tip-Off All-Tournament Team

Jack DeGroot (Marywood)
William Afoakwah (Lancaster Bible)
Justin Kupa (F&M)
Luther Gibbs (CNU)
Jason Aigner (CNU) - MVP