FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 62, St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn 56
RECORDS: St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 2-4, Apprentice School 6-2
LOCATION: Apprentice Athletic Center/Newport News
ON THE COURT: Sophomore Jay Melendez scored a team-high 14 points, all in the second half, as the Apprentice School rallied from a nine-point second half deficit to pull away from St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn for a 62-56 on Sunday afternoon.
The Builders opened the contest with a stifiling defense as they held the Bears scoreless for the first 9:11 as a Lance Darden jumper gave Apprentice School a 9-0 lead at the 12:55 mark. Michael Megafu broke the scoring drought for St. Joseph's with a free throw at the 10:49 mark.
Apprentice School pushed the lead to 13-3 on a Darden jumper with 9:05 left. St. Joseph's closed the half on a 19-5 run to take a 22-18 lead on a pair of Ian Duff free throws with 1:14 left.
In the second half, the Bears opened some breathing room taking a 37-28 lead as Matt O'Neill drained a 3-pointer with 13:42 left. He had eight points in an 11-3 run that gave the Bears the nine-point advantage.
Apprentice School cut it to one on three occasions over the next four minutes, the last being on a Melendez jumper with 9:35 left for a 41-40 margin.
A 3-pointer from O'Neill and a pair of Megafu free throws gave St. Joseph's a 46-40 lead with 8:16 left. Apprentice School went off on a 12-3 run over the next 4:02 to take a 52-49 lead on a Rodney Goodman tip-in with 4:14 left.
Down the stretch, the Builders were 8-of-10 from the foul line in the final 1:57 to keep the Bears at bay and score the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association win.
BEHIND THE BOXSCORE
After struggling with a 1-for-6 performance from the foul line in the first half, the Builders were 17-of-23 in the final 20 minutes. That second half included a 12-for-14 performance in the final 5:49.
Terrence Palmer joined Melendez in double figures with 10 points for the Builders.
Jamal Curry saw his double-double streak snap, only scoring nine points, but he set a season-high with 21 rebounds. That is the fourth-highest total in the last 30 years for the Builders.
St. Joseph's was paced by David Louison with 18 points and 11 rebounds, O'Neill with 16 and Megafu with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
NEXT UP
Apprentice School travels to Petersburg on Wednesday night to face NCAA Division II Virginia State University in a 7:30 pm tipoff.