FINAL SCORE: Virginia State 79, Apprentice School 59

RECORDS: Virginia State 7-1, Apprentice School 6-3

LOCATION: Ettrick, VA

ON THE COURT: A blistering second half for homestanding Virginia State enabled the Trojans to pull away for a 79-59 win over the Builders on Wednesday night.

Apprentice School held a 31-26 lead at halftime, but saw the hosts hit 57.6% from the floor (19-33) and 53.8% from 3-point land (7-13) to pull out the victory.

In a game that saw 14 lead changes, the Builders took their final lead of the night on a Jamal Curry layup with 11:23 left to lead 50-48.  Virginia State closed the game on a 31-9 run and started that with a 15-0 flurry to lead 63-50 on an Allen Harris 3-pointer with 5:24 left.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Jay Melendez was the leading scorer for the Builders with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
• Coming off the bench, Johnnie Ferebee (13 points, five assists) and Lance Darden (12 points) joined Melendez in double figures.
• Apprentice School shot 21-64 from the floor (32.8%) and were out-rebounded 43-37 by the Trojans. 
• Virginia State was paced by Harris with 22 points and Lamar Kearse with 19.

NEXT UP

Apprentice School returns home next Wednesday night for a 6pm tip against in-state rival Southern Virginia University.