FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 101, Mid-Atlantic Christian 60

RECORDS:  Apprentice School 4-0, Mid-Atlantic Christian 1-4

LOCATION: Apprentice Athletic Center

ON THE COURT: Sophomore Jay Melendez scored a career-high 27 points to lead four in double figures for the Apprentice School as they toppled Mid-Atlantic Christian University 101-60 on Wednesday night in the 2013-14 home opener.

The Builders came out blistering from the start as they jumped out to a 23-5 lead in the first five minutes as Terrence Palmer drained a pair of free throws with 15:04 left to give the hosts an early 18-point lead.  In that stretch, the Builders hit four 3-pointers as Melendez and senior Latrone Demiel had a pair each.

Mid-Atlantic Christian made a flurry as they scored six straight to cut the lead to 23-11 on a Joseph Hill jumper with 13:03 left.  Apprentice School responded with a 13-4 run to push the lead to 36-15 on a pair of Melendez free throws with 8:16 left.

After trailing 52-28 at the half, the Mustangs came out with an 11-5 start of the second half to trim the margin to 57-39 on a Hill layup with 14:09 left which was as close as they got.  The Builders used an 18-5 streak midway in the second half to break the game open on a 3-pointer from Zach Zastrow with 5:58 left to lead 88-50.  In that run, Melendez started it with back-to-back 3-pointers had had a tip-in for eight of the 18 points.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Demiel had 16 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from 3-point range which matched his season high from 3-point land.  He hit four 3's in the season opener against Penn State Fayette.
• Johnnie Ferebee added 13 points and eight assists, while Zastrow scored a career-high 11 points in 14 minutes of action.
• The Builders set a school-record for 3-pointers made in a game with 15 which knocked off the previous mark of 13 which they tied last year against Trinity College (FL).
• As a team, they blistered the nets from 3-point range going 15-of-25 for a 60% clip.  That equals the third highest percentage from 3-point range as they hit 12-of-20 against Gallaudet on Dec. 4, 1999.  The 60% is the highest since they set the school record hitting 71.4% (10-of-14) against then NCAA Division II Longwood University.
• Apprentice School hit 34-of-65 from the floor (52.3%) and was 18-of-21 (81.8%) from the foul line. 
• Mid-Atlantic was 18-of-60 from the floor (30%) and 21-of-32 (65.6%) from the foul line.  Michael Anderson and Angus Spencer joined Hill in double figures with 10 points each.

NEXT UP

The Builders travel to Concord, NC this weekend to participate in the Barber-Scotia Shootout.  On Saturday, they'll open with NAIA Division I West Virginia Tech (6-1) at 4:45 pm.  The next day they'll face the host Barber-Scotia Sabres at 3 pm.