DANVILLE, VA. -- Homestanding Averett University closed the game
on a 15-4 run over the last 5:30 as the Cougars defeated Apprentice
School 76-70 on Wednesday night in the Grant Center.
In a first half that saw 12 lead changes, no team had more than
a six point advantage. Averett scored the first five points,
only to see the Builders reel off the next nine for its biggest
lead of the first half on a Fred Spratley jumper with 15:36 left.
The Cougars eventually opened its biggest lead of the half
capping a 9-2 run over a nearly five minute span to lead 22-16 on a
pair of Justin Parker free throws with 7:21 left in the half.
Apprentice School responded with an 11-3 run with sophomore Jason
Arrington scoring eight of those including a 3-pointer for a 27-25
advantage with 5:16 remaining. From then, the teams traded
the lead five times over the next two minutes before the Cougars
eventually took a 36-33 lead on a pair of Damien Brown foul shots
with 70 seconds left in the half.
The second half was a game of runs. Averett opened with a
10-4 run for its biggest lead of the game on a Jonathan Rumley
layup with 16:46 left for a 46-39 advantage. Apprentice
School answered that run with a 16-2 spurt over the next 6:40 for a
55-48 lead with 10:06 remaining on an Eric Joe layup.
That lead held up over the next five minutes before the Cougars
started their game-ending 15-4 run. A Brown layup tied
the game with 2:46 left and a pair of Rumley free throws with 23
seconds left gave the Cougars the final margin.
Arrington paced the Builders with 20 points with Ruffin adding
18 and Joe scored 10 points with five rebounds. Rumley was
the leading scorer for Averett (3-3) with 23 points to lead four in
double figures.
The road gets no easier for the Builders as they travel to
Norfolk on Saturday afternoon for a 2 pm matchup with the
9th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan Marlins in the Batten Center.
These teams opened the season in a 74-70 VWC victory in the opening
round of the Cox Communications Tipoff at the Batten Center.
AVERETT 76, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 70
APPRENTICE (5-4): Spratley 4-6 0-0 8, Ruffin 9-19 0-1 18, Paige
3-15 1-1 8, Arrington 7-15 2-2 20, Washington 1-3 0-0 2, Cherry 0-0
0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 1-5 0-0 0, Archer 0-1 0-0 0, Joe
5-7 0-1 10, Johnson 1-3 0-1 2. Totals 31-74 3-6 70.
AVERETT (3-3): Malone 1-4 0-0 2, Rumley 10-20 2-3 23, Frazier
5-10 2-2 16, McDaniel 5-12 2-2 16, Brown 3-9 6-10 12, Parker 1-4
2-2 4, Wyley 1-2 1-2 3, Stone 0-2 0-02 0, Miller 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 26-64 15-23 76.
Halftime: Averett 36-35. 3-point goals: Apprentice 5-21
(Spratley 0-1, Ruffin 0-3, Paige 1-5, Arrington 4-8, Thompson 0-3,
Archer 0-1); Averett 9-24 (Malone 0-2, Rumley 1-6, Frazier 4-7,
McDaniel 4-6, Parker 0-2, Stone 0-1). Rebounds: Apprentice 43
(Johnson 8); Averett 45 (Rumley 14). Total fouls: Apprentice
23, Averett 10. Fouled out: Arrington. Assists:
Apprentice 12 (Paige 4); Averett 11 (McDaniel 4). Att.: 424.
