MARIETTA, Ohio — Watching Christopher Newport's John Krikorian during the Captains game Friday afternoon it was hard to tell his squad was winning.

Actually, his team was in complete control, and when it was all over, he finally got to appreciate CNU's 93-54 victory over Stockton in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament Sectional Semifinal at Ban Johnson Arena.

Krikorian's intensity never waned, even as his squad led by as many as 40.

"It was really impressive," he said. "Our guys were ready. We were locked in from the beginning. … It was a solid overall effort for us today."

CNU (27-2) opened the game on a 16-0 run and never looked back. The Captains shot an impressive 53.8 percent from behind the three-point line, while also scoring 20 points in the paint during the first half. Stockton couldn't contain Jason Aigner, who made five 3-pointers and led all scorers at half with 17 points.

Aigner finished with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

"I was letting it come to me, and I was trying to take the right shots for our team," Aigner said. "I play with a lot of good teammates. We all play our part, and we will feed one guy if he gets hot."
 
Jahn Hines had one of his typical performances, as he scored 19 points and added seven rebounds as the Captains won their 24th straight game.

"I take whatever the defense gave me," Hines said. "We knew coming in they would be chirping a little, so we wanted to stay composed."

CNU also got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Darian Peterson, as well as 10 points from Nick Thomas. Trey Barber was also a force in the post with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Krikorian was most impressed with how his squad stayed focused after building a big lead.

"We've had this happen a few times this year. Even though you're up, when the lead gets cut to 10, you feel terrible when you see a lead go down," he said. "They made a little run, but our guys showed some poise during that time."

The big lead also allowed CNU to rest its starters and provide 10 additional players with some quality action in an NCAA Tournament game.

"It's super important," said Krikorian, who has guided the Captains to 20 wins or more in seven consecutive seasons. "Being able to limit some minutes and getting a few hours of extra rest because we played the first game is big. I think we also showed the depth of our team is very important and we can go very deep and not drop off at all. That's going to be very important."

CNU's defense was equally impressive as it stymied the Ospreys (26-5) with an in-your-face defense in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Stockton shot a dismal 29.6 percent from the field and only made 3-of-20 3-pointers.

Despite the lop-sided loss, Stockton coach Scott Bittner heaped plenty of praise on his squad.

"I've never had a closer group of guys. I couldn't be prouder of this team. Never been around a team that was better to each other," he said. "I thanked them for letting me challenge them all season. These guys allowed me to hold them accountable. If we lose by one point or 39 points, it's still a loss. I'm proud that they showed fight until the end."

Bittner and Krikorian are close friends and Bittner said he hopes to get his program to the place that the Captains find themselves now.

"Coming into the NCAA Tournament I thought we might have to get our feet wet, but we played pretty loose last week," he said. "(CNU) is here to win a national championship. It was a great learning experience playing a team like that. That team doesn't do anything to lose a game. They have that size and skill and they took advantage of mismatches."

DJ Campbell led Stockton with 12 points, while Kylon Flanders added 11 points.

"We didn't make the playoffs my freshman year, and these guys (Campbell and Rynell Lawrence) came in and they are dogs that push each other in practice," Flanders said. "If we're going to lose, we're not going out without a fight."