NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – Freshman Lavontae Thomas scored a game-high 22 points coming off the bench to lead four in double figures as the Apprentice School knocked off Virginia University of Lynchburg 99-90 in a home-opening shootout on Tuesday night.

Apprentice School (4-0) raced out to a 10-4 advantage at the 18:19 mark on a dunk from Isaih Harrison, but the visiting Dragons answered with a 9-2 run of their own for a 13-12 lead with 13:57 left on a 3-pointer from Michael Anderson.

The hosts pushed the lead back up to eight points at 23-15 on a pair of Thomas' free throws with 11:24 left which is around the margin the lead stayed at for the next five minutes.  A pair of Johnnie Ferebee free throws gave the Builders a 34-27 lead with 6:38 left but then the visitors reeled off a 11-0 run over a 2:44 span as VUL took a 38-34 lead on a Chris Calvan jumper with 3:54 left.  That was the largest lead on the night for the Dragons.

In the second half, a Juiss Turja 3-pointer with 16:40 left tied the game at 56-all which turned into the final tie of the night.  The Builders went on a 19-5 run over the next 6:03 to take their largest lead of the night at 75-61 on a Ferebee 3-pointer with 10:37 left.

Harrison had his fourth double-double on the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Ferebee nearly hit a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.  Tevin Andrews also flirted with a double-double scoring 11 points and hauling in eight rebounds.

Both teams put on a shooting clinic on Tuesday night as VUL hit 32-of-63 from the floor (50.8%) while the Builders hit 32-of-57 from the floor (56.1%) and were a blistering 16-of-25 in the second half (64%). The Builders outrebounded the Dragons 44-26 with Harrison leading the game with his 12 rebounds. 

Apprentice School will now hit the road to the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg on Friday night to face York College (NY) in the 5 pm game of the UMW Tipoff Classic.