FINAL SCORE: Elizabeth City State 81, Apprentice School 77

RECORDS: Elizabeth City State 5-5, Apprentice School 8-5

LOCATION: Apprentice Athletic Center/Newport News, VA.

ON THE COURT

Shaquil Barber paced four in double figures for visiting Elizabeth City State with 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Vikings hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold off The Apprentice School 81-77 on Thursday night.

Each team held five-point leads in the first half as the Builders used a 3-pointer from Jay Melendez to give them a 31-26 lead with 4:40 left.  The Vikings used a 12-2 run to take a 38-36 lead on a pair of Barber free throws with 1:10 left.  Melendez drained another 3-pointer to get the Builders within a bucket at 38-36 heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Vikings took a seven-point lead on a DeCarlos Anderson stickback with 14:52 left to lead 56-49.  Apprentice School went on a 9-2 flurry over the next three minutes to tie the game 58-all on a Johnnie Ferebee layup with 11:48 left.  

The Builders took their lone lead of the second half on a layup from Lavonte Thomas with 8:52 left to go up 63-62.  Barber responded with a layup 17 seconds later and the Vikings never trailed.  A Melendez layup with 1:42 left brought the Builders within 78-77, but the visitors went 3-for-5 in the final 87 seconds to ice the win.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Melendez was the leading scorer for the Builders with 23 points and 11 rebounds to pace four in double figures. 
• Ferebee had 13 points and five assists, while Latrone Demiel and Cameron Perry had 10 points each.
• The Builders were out-rebounded 51-40 as Barber had 10 rebounds and Dominique Byrd had a game-high 12 to go with his 12 points.
• ECSU hit 30-of-68 from the floor (44.1%), 5-of-23 from 3-point range (21.7%) and 16-of-29 from the foul line (55.2%). 
• Apprentice School was 29-of-65 from the floor (44.6%), 7-of-24 from 3-point range (29.2%) and 12-of-25 from the foul line (48%).

NEXT UP

The Builders next see action in 2014 as they travel to the University of the District of Columbia for a 3pm tip on January 4.