NEWPORT NEWS, VA.- Kechan Myers scored 23 points and Tim Ellison added 19 as the visiting University of District of Columbia Firebirds held off several Apprentice School flurries for a 79-75 men's basketball victory on Thursday night.
The Firebirds started the game smoking hot hitting 10 of their first 13 shots in the first nearly eight minutes to take a 22-13 advantage on a jumper from Alex Frempong with 11:42 left. They pushed the lead to 14 points twice, the latest being with 8:27 remaining on a David Burton floater in the lane for a 32-18 lead. Apprentice School slowly worked back into the contest cutting the deficit to nine points on a Trevor Jones jumper with 25 seconds left in the half for a 41-32 score heading into the locker room.
In the second half, the Builders continued the comeback and tied the game for the first time at 52-all on a Fred Spratley 3-point play with 10 minutes left. Each time the Builders tied the game, the Firebirds answered with a quick spurt to get back a working margin. They scored eight of the next 11 points to take a 60-55 lead with 8:06 left on an Ellison 3-pointer. Apprentice School answered bringing the score to 66-all with 3:48 left on a Jason Arrington jumper. From there the Firebirds pushed the lead back to four points, before the Builders forced the final tie at 72-all on an Arrington jumper with 1:12 left.
As per the previous ties, the firebirds quickly regained control leading 76-72 on a pair of Myers free throws with 46 seconds left. Eric Ruffin hit a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to cut the lead to 76-75. Ellison hit a free throw to put the Firebirds back up 77-75, but Ruffin had two baseline jumpers that rimmed out before a pair of foul shots from Gani Cole with three seconds left iced the 79-75 win.
Arrington scored 18 points to lead four Builders in double figures. Eric Joe added 17 points, Ruffin had 16 points and 12 assists, while Isaih Harrison had 13 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
The Builders head up to Takoma Park, Maryland on Saturday night to face Columbia Union College at 8:30 pm.
UDC 79, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 75
UDC (5-10): MYERS,Kechan 7-21 6-6 23; ELLISON,Tim 7-18 1-3 19; WOOD,Ryan 2-4 5-6 9; BURTON,David 4-5 0-0 8; COLE,Gani 3-3 2-4 8; COLE,Rasheed 2-5 2-2 6; FREMPONG,Alex 1-1 3-4 5; LEACH,Chris 0-6 1-2 1. Totals 26-63 20-27 79.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (7-10): Jason Arrington 6-12 2-2 18; Eric Joe 5-11 7-10 17; Eric Ruffin 7-20 0-0 16; Isaih Harrison 5-6 3-4 13; Fred Spratley 2-6 2-3 6; Arbry Butler 0-4 3-4 3; Trevor Jones 1-1 0-0 2; Stanford Johnson 0-3 0-0 0; Thomas Scott 0-0 0-0 0; Adrian Brewer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 17-23 75.
Halftime-UDC 41-32. 3-point goals--UDC 7-19 (ELLISON,Tim 4-11; MYERS,Kechan 3-7; BURTON,David 0-1), Apprentice School 6-15 (Jason Arrington 4-7; Eric Ruffin 2-4; Fred Spratley 0-3; Adrian Brewer 0-1). Fouled out--UDC-None, Apprentice School-None. Rebounds--UDC 45 (WOOD,Ryan 11), Apprentice School 37 (Isaih Harrison 10). Assists--UDC 18 (MYERS,Kechan 5), Apprentice School 20 (Eric Ruffin 12). Total fouls--UDC 18, Apprentice School 19. Technical fouls--UDC-None, Apprentice School-None.