NEWPORT NEWS, VA. - The Apprentice School cut a 20-point
second-half deficit down to five, but it was not enough as visiting
St. Paul's College held on for an 89-82 victory on Thursday night.
St. Paul's (4-5) jumped out quickly to a 10-4 lead on a tip-in
from Maurice Reevey with 17:26 left. The Tigers never let off
the accelerator in the opening half slowly pulling out to as much
as an 11-point lead with 11:11 left on a Bruce Royal layup for a
24-13 advantage.
The Builders cut that lead to 26-19 on a 3-pointer from Antione
Paige with 9:03 left, before the Tigers scored the next 10 points
capped by a pair of Anthony Wynn free throws to take a 36-19 lead
with 6:11 remaining. St. Paul's eventually worked the lead to
20 points on a Marcus Mitchell layup for a 51-31 halftime
lead. The first half saw the Tigers hit 50% from the field,
while Apprentice School was a cool 37.1% from the floor (13-of-35).
In the second half, an Adrian Moffatt 3-pointer gave the Tigers
their largest lead at 56-35 with 18:49 remaining. That lead
held around the 20-point mark with 12:52 left on an Andrew Maples
3-pointer, before the Builders started their massive comeback.
A quick 7-0 run cut the lead down to 72-59 on a Nolan Thompson
jumper with 10:05 left. Following five straight points from
the Tigers, the Builders went on a 12-2 run cutting the lead to
single digits on a steal and layup from Eric Joe with 5:55 left for
a 79-71 deficit.
Shahumaad Jones' dunk with 3:22 left put the Tiges back up 85-73
but the Builders had one last burst cutting that down to 87-82 on a
Thompson jumper with 10 seconds left. Moffatt hit a pair of
free throws with five seconds left to seal the victory for St.
Paul's.
Apprentice School warmed up in the second half hitting 21-of-41
from the floor (51.2%), but the Tigers matched that by hitting
55.2% from the floor (16-of-29).
Eric Joe was the leading scorer for Apprentice School with 19
points, while Thompson added 18 and Paige chipped in 16.
Royal was the leading scorer for St. Paul's with 21 points, Marcus
Mitchell added 19 and Anthony Wynn along with Moffatt had 14
apiece.
The Builders return to the home floor on Saturday to face
Randolph College at 2 pm
ST. PAUL'S 89, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 82
ST. PAUL'S (4-5): Jones 2-5, 0-2 4, Moffatt 5-10 2-3 14, Royal
10-17 0-0 21, Mitchell 8-11 1-2 19, Reevey 3-7 3-4 9, Maples 2-3
0-1 5, Wynn 5-9 4-6 14, LeSeur 0-5 3-4 3. Totals 35-67 13-22
89.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (10-8): Smith 1-3 1-2 3, Spratley 2-7 0-0 4,
Ruffin 3-12 0-0 7, Paige 6-11 0-0 16, Joe 9-14 1-3 19, Cherry 0-1
0-0 0, Thompson 7-13 2-2 18, Archer 0-0 0-0 0, Arrington 2-9 2-2 7,
Washington 3-4 0-0 6, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 34-76 6-9 82.
Halftime: SPC 51-31. 3-point goals: SPC 6-18 (Moffatt 2-6.
Royal 1-3, Mitchell 2-5, Maples 1-2, LeSeur 0-2); Apprentice 8-19
(Spratley 0-1, Ruffin 1-3, Paige 4-6, Thompson 2-5, Arrington
1-4). Rebounds: SPC 36 (Reevey 9); Apprentice 45 (Joe
8). Total fouls: SPC 9, Apprentice 21. Assists: SPC 16
(Royal 6); Apprentice 19 (Ruffin 8). Att.: 572.
