UNIONTOWN, PA . – Seventh-seeded Oakwood University used a 13-0 run midway in the second half to pull away and knock off sixth-seeded Apprentice School 79-69 in the semifinals of the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Division I Championships on Friday afternoon.

The first half saw eight ties and six lead changes as the Ambassadors jumped out to an 18-13 lead on a tip-in by Wilbur Ampey with 8:43 left.  Apprentice School quickly tied the game 20-all on a pair of Isaih Harrison free throws with 7:15 left.  Oakwood took another five-point advantage as Ryan Moore's free throws put them up 29-24 with 4:19 left, but Apprentice School responded to tie the game 31-all on a Tevin Andrews tip-in with 1:28 left.  Those points started a 6-0 flurry to close the half with Apprentice School up 35-31 on a dunk by Andrews.

In the final 20 minutes, the Builders opened the advantage to seven points early on a tip-in and a pair of free throws by Harrison to go up 38-31 with 17:41 left.  The lead was cut quickly to one on a pair of Austin Doggette 3-pointers with the final one cutting the lead to 38-37 just 46 seconds later.

Apprentice School held a 47-42 lead on a Harrison layup with 12:29 left, then the Ambassadors opened their run.  Moore had a 3-point play and closed the flurry with a tip-in as Doggette drained another pair of 3-pointers in that spurt to lead 55-47 with 9:19 left.  From there, the lead got to four points on a pair of Harrison free throws with 6:42 left but that was as close as they got.

Harrison was the leading scorer in the game with 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Lance Darden added 16 points and Terrence Palmer chipped in with 10 for the Builders.  Doggette was leading man for Oakwood with 19 points and six boards.

Apprentice School closes out its season on Saturday morning with a 9:45 am game against Ave Maria University for third place.  These teams met in January at Ave Maria and the Gyrenes won 88-64 on January 7.