WINCHESTER, Va. - Shenandoah University opened its 2009-10 USA South Conference men's basketball slate Wednesday evening by rallying for a 62-60 victory over visiting Christopher Newport.

Trailing 42-27 at halftime, SU (4-9, 1-0 USA South) got itself back into the contest by scoring the first 12 points of the second.

Mike Green snapped the scoreless streak for CNU (5-6, 0-1) with a free throw at 15:13, but the Hornets weren't finished.

Shenandoah continued to put on the pressure and eventually cut the deficit to just one, 48-47, with 11:39 remaining.

After the two teams then traded the next four buckets, SU finally took its first lead on a Chris Schrader jumper at 8:51.

Then it became a case of good news, bad news for the hosts.

Schrader's bucket represented the last points that Shenandoah would score for the next 6:56 of the contest; fortunately for SU the Captains were only able to score four points during this same span.

Schrader finally ended the scoreless string with a pair of free throws with 1:55 to play and set his team up for the victory in the process.

Christopher Newport pushed its lead back to three points on two more occasions before the Hornets finally finished off its rival by scoring the last five points of the game.

Schrader, who led the victors with 18 points and nine boards, brought the Hornets to within one with a jumper in the paint with 1:00 remaining.

The Captains Conley Taylor turned the ball over in the frontcourt on the ensuing possession, and Shenandoah called timeout with :14 seconds left to set up a possible game-winning play.

Senior point guard Kenny Robertson got the ball out front after throwing the inbounds pass and drove the lane at 10 seconds. Robertson's runner banked off the glass and in, giving SU the one-point advantage.

CNU then called timeout and attempted a 3-pointer with one second left to win. Josh Russell's try missed, and Robertson was fouled on the rebound. He made one of two, missing the first, and a final desperation heave by the Captains was picked off by the Hornets Mitch Dudley.

Brandon Bryan added 17 for Shenandoah to back up Schrader's 18.

Jake Capin led all scorers for Christopher Newport with 19. All of that came in the first half - he finished 8 for 12 from the field after making all eight of his attempts in the opening stanza.

SU travels to N.C. Wesleyan for a Saturday USA South Conference contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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