FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 69, Columbia International 62

RECORDS: Apprentice School 1-0, Columbia International 1-3

LOCATION: Davis Field House/Greenville, S.C.

IN BRIEF: Down 39-21 at the half, the Rams used a 24-10 run to pull within 4 points midway through the second half. However, successful shooting from the charity stripe and a couple 3-pointers allowed the Builders to stay in control and hold off the Rams.

ON THE COURT

• The Apprentice School never trailed in the game, but allowed CIU to tie things up twice early on. A pair of Ram's jump shots tied the score at 9-9 (13:15). CIU would make a couple of free throws less than a minute later to even things up again at 11-11 (12:38).
• Following the tie, a Jay Melendez jump shot at the 4:48 mark capped off a 20-8 run by the Builders. A couple of Rams free throws trimmed the lead down to 10 at 31-21 with 2:26 to play in the opening half, but the Builders used an 8-0 run to take a 39-21 lead at the break.
• The Rams used a 3-point shot to open up the second half, kickstarting a 9-2 run. CIU continued to chip away at the Builders' lead, pulling to within 49-45 as they made a pair of free throws with 10:32 remaining on the clock.
• The Builders responded with a pair of Melendez 3-point shots, the first at 10:19 and a second at 8:37.
• Cameron Perry was clutch from the free-throw line late to help hold off the Rams. With under 3 minutes to play in the game, Perry made all 8 of his free throws to help secure the first win of the season.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Perry led the team with 24 points as the senior guard was 14-of-15 from the line, including a perfect 12-for-12 in the second half. Melendez was close behind with 18 points. The senior guard/forward was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc and shot 40% (6-of-15) from the field. Melendez was also 1 rebound shy of recording a double-double, his 9 rebounds leading the team.
• The Builders shot 32.3% (20-of-62) from the floor and shot 25% (5-of-20) from beyond the arc. The team was very succesful at the free-throw line, making 24-of-28 (85.7%).
• The Apprentice School outrebounded CIU 41-33 and held the advantage in assists (10-9), steals (7-2), and blocks (5-1).
• The Builders scored 16 points off of turnovers, compared to just 6 points for the Rams.
• CIU saw most of its production from its bench, which was responsibe for 49 points.
• The Apprentice School's largest lead was 18 points.

NEXT UP

The Builders play again Saturday at 4 p.m. against Bob Jones University. The host Bruins won their third straight with an 86-72 final over Barber-Scotia College (N.C.) on Friday night.