NEWPORT NEWS, VA. - Senior Stephen Fields' jumper with 2:07 left in overtime gave the visiting Virginia Wesleyan Marlins the lead to stay in overtime as they defeated The Apprentice School 76-73 in a non-conference matchup on Thursday night.
The Marlins opened the game strong racing out to an 18-9 lead on a Jamie Richardson layup with 10:55 left. Apprentice School bounced back on the heels of a 14-2 run over the next 5:14 to take a 23-20 advantage on a pair of Isaih Harrison. VWC (6-1) responded scoring nine of the next 10 points to take a 29-24 lead on a Chris Teasley free throw with 3:15 left. The Builders made it close but trailed 35-33 at half.
In the second half, the Builders turned up the defensive heat and held the Marlins without a field goal for the first 7:36. In that timeframe, the Builders went on a 14-4 run to take a 47-39 lead on a free throw from Eric Joe. The Marlins hit their first field goal of the half on a Donald Vaughn jumper with 12:24 left cutting the lead to 47-41.
Apprentice School pushed the lead to 11 points almost two minutes later as a Harrison jumper with 10:34 left. They held a 10-point advantage on a Joe layup with 8:50 remaining before the Marlins mounted their comeback.
A 16-6 spurt over the next 6:36 gave the Marlins a 62-all tie as Fields drained a pair of free throws. A Richardson steal and layup with nine seconds left put the Marlins up 66-64, but the Builders' Chris Hearn calmly hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to force overtime at 66-all.
In the extra session, the Marlins tied it twice on free throws with Richardson hitting the last two for a 70-all score with 2:23 left. Following a Quantrell Simmons steal, Fields drained a 15-foot jumper for a 72-70 VWC lead.
A jumper with 62 seconds left by Vaughn put the Marlins up 74-70 before Tevin Andrews drained a triple for the Builders cutting the lead to one with 14 seconds left. Vaughn iced it with a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left.
Fields and Vaughn paced the Marlins with 23 points apiece, while Harrison topped four in double figures for the Builders with 22 and 12 rebounds.
These teams meet 11 days from now at the Jane Batten Student Center on December 14 at 7 pm. Apprentice School now goes on the road for a pair of games in the Carolinas this weekend. They open with a rematch of another overtime game as they face Francis Marion in Florence, S.C. on Saturday at 7 pm. These teams played to a 72-67 Builder win on November 24 in Newport News.