GREENSBORO, N.C. (WTKR) — All night, Christohper Newport had done as good a job as any team against ODAC Player of the Year Tyler Dearman.
The Guilford guard missed all 15 of his shots from the floor with just ten seconds remaining in the game.
All it takes is one and the Captains found it out the hard way.
Dearman banked in a shot with just 2.3 seconds left in the quarterfinal game of the NCAA DIII Tournament, allowing the Quakers to hold off the Captains in a 50-48 game.
The reigning national champions, which was battling in a second straight defensive slugfest, took their first lead of the second half with 5:51 to play off of two Jahn Hines free throws.
Grassfield product Toa Hollenbeck made plenty of crucial baskets down the stretch, including a layup to keep CNU out front 44-41, then sinking a pair of foul shots with 15 seconds left in the game to tie things up at 48-48.
He would finish the game with 14 points while Hines, a Norview graduate, led the way with 17 points.
CNU held Guilford to 16-47 shooting and took seven more shots than the host team, but went just 4-27 on their three-point attempts. The Quakers also went 15-22 from the free throw line compared to the Captains 10-12 at the charity stripe.
With the loss, Christopher Newport's season comes to an end at 24-7. It was the program's fourth straight season making it to the Elite Eight, aiming to become the first DIII team to win back-to-back national championships in 15 years.
