Box Score Petersburg, VA – After receiving the #6 seed in the USCAA National Tournament, the Apprentice Men's Basketball team drew #3 Bryant & Stratton – Buffalo in the opening round. Today's game was played on the campus of Richard Bland College and pitted two teams who had some of the best offensive players in the country. To win, the Builders would need to match points while also slowing down a Bobcats team that has four players averaging double-digits per game. For the first time in years, the tournament was being played in Virginia and Apprentice was happy to be playing close to home.
To start the half, Jayden Eason put the Builders on the board first after converting an offensive rebound but BSC answered and eventually found themselves ahead by 8-points, 12-4. Their lead would stretch to double-digits, 16-6 and then 22-11 until Karree Smith and Corey Joyner led a run to even the game up at 22-22 and then baskets by Smith and Marion Moore gave Apprentice only their 2nd lead of the game, 26-22. The two teams would trade baskets, but as the half ended the Bobcats take a 3-point advantage into the locker room as the Builders trailed, 33-30.
The second half, Apprentice fell behind by 7-points, but Karree Smith was able to trim it to 3-points after taking a defensive rebound coast-to-coast for a fastbreak layup. A Corey Joyner 3-pointer tied the game with 14:54 remaining and eventually Smith pulled the Builders back ahead, 43-41. Caleb Mielewski gave his team their largest lead of the game, 45-41 and then Karree Smith hit another basket to push the lead to 47-41. With 7:24 left in the game, the Bobcats fought back to tie the game and then proceeded to tale a 10-point lead. Unfortunately, Apprentice was not able to make a come back and fell by a final score of 66-52.
The Builders were led by Karree Smith, who finished with 18 points, while Corey Joyner added 11 points to go along with Jayden Eason's 9 rebounds. The Builders will now play in the consolation bracket and pairings will be announced soon. Stay tuned to www.gobuilders.com for schedule updates.
