NEWPORT NEWS, VA. -- A five minute cold spell in the second half proved too much to overcome on Tuesday night as the Apprentice School fell 78-74 to Livingstone College at home.
Livingstone (8-5) held the lead for the majority of the first half pushing the advantage to as much as six points with a jumper from Tyler Johnson with 4:09 left gave the Blue Bears a 34-28 advantage. The Builders closed the half on a 12-2 run as a Latrone Demiel floater in the lane put the Builders ahead 40-36 at the halftime horn.
In the second half it was the Builders who got a working margin of seven points on two occasions as a pair of Isaih Harrison free throws with 13:58 left put the hosts up 50-43. Livingstone responded with a 14-3 run to take a 57-53 advantage on a pair of Cody Paul free throws with 11:09 left.
The teams traded the lead over the next four minutes and a Tim Johnson layup with 7:47 left brought the Builders even at 66-all. That turned into the final time the game was tied as the Blue Bears went on a 7-0 run over the next 4:58 before a Tevin Andrews jumper stopped the cold spell for a 73-68 deficit with 2:49 remaining.
Apprentice School had a couple chances late, but four free throws from Quintin Redfern in the final 13 seconds iced the win for Livingstone. The Blue Bears avenged an 86-84 overtime loss to the Builders from December 19 with the win.
The Builders were paced by Harrison with 25 points and nine rebounds. With his first points tonight, Harrison became the sixth Builder to score over 1,000 points in his career as he now stands in sixth place with 1,023. Andrews also jioned him in double figures with 18 points and nine rebounds. Apprentice School hit 51.9% from the floor (28-of-54) and out-rebounded the Blue Bears 40-27.
Livingstone was paced by Darius Cox with 15 points and five rebounds, while Tyler Johnson added 12 points and Donte Durant added 11. The visitors hit 45.6% from the floor for the game (26-of-57) but made their damage from 3-point range hitting 50% (8-of-16) including 5-of-7 (71.4%) in the second half.
Apprentice School now returns to action on February 2 when they face UDC in a 6 pm tipoff in Apprentice gym.
