FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 63, Williamson 45

RECORDS: Apprentice School 6-6, Williamson 7-13

LOCATION: Appentice Athletic Facility Gymnasium/Newport News, Va.

IN BRIEF: Williamson kept things close early, but Jay Melendez scored 20 points, Zach Johnson recorded a double-double, and Cameron Perry added 12 points as the Builders pulled away to close out the MLK Classic with a win.

ON THE COURT

• After the visiting Mechanics tied the score at 2-2 and 5-5, the Builders took control with a 9-3 run capped off by a pair of Johnson free throws. Williamson got a layup to fall, but the Apprentice School created some separation with another run, this time for 6-0.
• Williamson made a layup and followed up with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 20-15 with 6:15 to play. However, Melendez answered with a deep ball of his own and Johnson converted another pair of charity attempts to put the Apprentice School back up by 10, 25-15.
• The visitors connected on another 3-pointer, but couldn't make much headway. Johnson, Melendez, and Perry each scored 8 points in the opening half to pace the Builders, who took a 31-22 lead into the break.
• Melendez sandwiched a Mechanics layup with a pair of three to start the second half. The second Melendez bucket ignited a 7-0 run by the Builders and kept the visitors scoreless for over four-and-a-half minutes. Williamson halted the run with a shot from beyond the arc to make it 41-27 at the 14:39 mark.
• With a Mechanic layup at the 6:39 mark, the visitors found themselves down 53-42 an in need of a spark. However, the Apprentice School took off on another 7-0 run that took the clock down to 2:30 as Williamson netted a 3-pointer. Taaron White responded with a three of his own for what would be the final score. Neither team got a shot to fall in the final two minutes of play.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• Melendez scored 20 points to lead the Builders in the win. Johnson recorded a 17-point, 15-rebound double-double, while Perry contributed 12 points.
• The Apprentice School shot 33.9% (21-of-62) from the field, 33.3% (6-of-18) from beyond the arc, 68.2% (15-of-22) from the charity stripe.
• The Builders out-rebounded their opponents (47-31), committed fewer turnovers (20-28), and led in points off turnovers (17-14), second-chance points (13-5), points in the paint (28-18), and fastbreak points (11-4).
• The Apprentice School scored 12 points off the bench, compared to 16 points by Williamson's bench.
• The game featured two ties and no lead changes.

NEXT UP

The Builders will host three games in as many days next weekend, beginning with an 8 p.m. contest against Florida College on Friday. The team will play Southern State CC (Ohio) at 1 p.m. on Saturday and will take on Berkeley-NYC at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Fans attending this weekend's games are reminded that they can park on the 3rd deck of the parking garage located on the corner of 31st Street and West Avenue, adjacent to the south side of the Apprentice School. Parking attendants will be located on the west side of the garage as well as around the perimeter of the school. Additional directional signage will be in place to lead you to the garage.

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