FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 88, Mid-Atlantic Christian University 61

RECORDS: Apprentice School 11-9, Mid-Atlantic Christian 2-21

LOCATION: Apprentice Athletic Center/Newport News, VA

IN BRIEF: On a night highlighted by a pair of 1,000-point scorers in Jay Melendez and Johnnie Ferebee, the Apprentice School pulled away in the second half to defeat Mid-Atlantic Christian 88-61 in a U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association matchup on Wednesday night.

ON THE COURT

• The Builders blasted out of the gate racing to a 22-6 lead in the first five minutes as a Jay Melendez put the hosts up with 15:05 left.  Apprentice School forced five turnovers in the first five minutes of action.
• MACU got the pace more under their control for the rest of the half and trimmed the margin to seven with 6:27 left on a Wayne Thurber 3-pointer for a 32-25 score as that finished off an 11-6 flurry for the Mustangs over a 6:24 span.
• Thurber went two-of-three at the line to keep the margin at seven points with 5:47 left and a 34-27 score.  Apprentice School scored the next six points to push the lead to 40-27 on a Melendez dunk with 4:41 left.
• The Mustangs closed the half on a 9-1 run and got as close as four points on a Joseph Hill layup with 49 seconds left.  Johnnie Ferebee hit a free throw with 40 seconds left to take a 41-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
• A Thurber jumper 28 seconds into the half got the Mustangs to 41-38.  Apprentice School got out their running gear and went on a 24-6 run over the next eight minutes to take a 65-44 lead on a Zach Zastrow layup with 11:13 left.
• The Mustangs trimmed the deficit to 15 points twice in the second half, the last being on a Marquice Sims layup with 9:55 left for a 67-52 margin.
• Apprentice School got the margin back in the heels of a 15-5 run over the next 4:39 as a Melendez layup with 5:16 left put the hosts up 82-57.

1,000 X 2

• In the last six and a half minutes, two men's basketball players broke the 1,000-career point mark for the Builders.  Melendez drained a 3-pointer with 6:21 left to make him the eighth player in the last 30 years to score over 1,000 points.  His layup to cap the 15-5 run put him at 1,003 career points.
• Ferebee joined him in the 1,000 point club with a layup at the 30 second mark to make him the ninth 1,000 point scorer and put his career total to 1,001.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Ferebee was the leading scorer on the night with 26 points and Melendez added 25 as each went 11-of-19 from the floor.  Melendez added 12 rebounds, while Ferebee dished out six assists.
• DeAndre Demiel joined them in double figures with 10 points, a game high seven assists and six steals.
• MACU was paced by Sims with 17 points and 15 rebounds, and Joseph Hill with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.

NEXT UP

The men now travel to Concord, NC to take on Barber-Scotia College on February 14 at 1 pm.