Salisbury wasn't supposed to beat Christopher Newport Saturday night — but if you play well enough to keep it close and give yourself a chance to throw one up at the end, sometimes it goes in. It seems a little like destiny for a team that's off to one of the hottest starts in the nation.
#10 Gulls knock off #5 CNU, 59-58. Chad Barcikowski sinks a half court buzzer beater for the win! @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/jaAoRXsgD6
— SU Men's Basketball (@SalisburyMBK) December 18, 2016
Christopher Newport was a Final Four team last year, and came into this season considered one of the premier teams in D3 men's basketball, but Salisbury's Chad Barcikowski hit a halfcourt shot at the horn to give the Seagulls a 59-58 Capital Athletic Conference win over the visiting Captains.
The surprise win kept a perfect start going — the Gulls are now 8-0, and at 4-0 in league play, are atop the CAC standings, one spot ahead of CNU which suffered its first league loss. It's the best start in program history for Salisbury.
It was a sweet finish to the night for Barcikowski, who wasn't having the best outing up until then. He had hit just two of nine shots (though both had been three-pointers). Wyatt Smith led the Gulls with 17 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field, while Gordon Jeter pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for Salisbury.
The loss dropped Christopher Newport to 6-2 overall, and 3-1 in the CAC. CNU was the coaches' unanimous pick to repeat as CAC champions after making a perfect 18-0 run through conference play last year and getting to the national semifinal before losing and finishing the year 30-2.
Salisbury, which was the conference runner-up last year and lost to Middlebury in the opening round, was picked to finish second again this year to CNU, but don't tell that to the Gulls.
