Marietta, Ohio – Stockton University (26-5) saw one of the best men's basketball seasons in school history come to an end with a 93-54 defeat to #4 Christopher Newport (27-2) in the sectional round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ospreys were playing in the sectionals for the first time since 2014.
The outcome ceased a magical season in which Stockton tied the second-highest win total (26) in the program's 50 seasons, finished first in the NJAC regular season standings, won the NJAC championship for the first time since 2016 and won two NCAA Tournament games.
DJ Campbell (Vineland/Vineland) scored a team-high 12 points and finished the season with 618 markers, the second-highest season total in school history (Carl Cochran, 671 points, 1995-96).
Kyion Flanders (Wildwood/Wildwood) also hit double figures with 11 points.
Rynell Lawrence (Millville/Millville) contributed eight markers and a team-high eight rebounds while
Alan Glover (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) finished with seven points.
On this day, Stockton was doomed by a slow start. Christopher Newport scored the first 16 points of the game before Campbell got the Ospreys on the board with a free throw. Stockton opened the contest by going just 2-18 (11.1%) from the field while the Captains shot 7-9 (77.8%). The result was a 26-8 deficit for the Ospreys.
Stockton trailed by as much as 24 in a first half that ended with a 50-27 count. The Ospreys shot 27.8 percent from the floor (10-36), including 2-12 (16.7%) from three-point range. By contrast, CNU connected at a torrid 60 percent from the floor (21-35) including 7-13 (53.8%) outside the arc.
Campbell scored a team-high eight points in the first half, followed by Flanders with seven and Lawrence with six. The bigger Captains doubled Stockton 20-10 in the paint.
Stockton never got closer than 22 points in the second half, and both teams substituted liberally in the last seven minutes. All 15 Ospreys in uniform saw action as the team's season came to an end with the 93-54 setback.
The defeat snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Ospreys and was the 24th straight win for Christopher Newport. Jason Aigner went 7-11 from three-point range and scored a game-high 23 points for the Captains while Jahn Hines tossed in 19 points.
