Staunton, VA – After an emotional hard fought home opener on Wednesday night, the Apprentice Men's Basketball team hit the road for a two-game swing through Virginia and Maryland. First up was Mary Baldwin University, who is a first-year program, but they were coming off their first ever win in program history. However, the Builders were hungry to get back in the win column and ready to start the two-game road trip on a positive note.
The Fighting Squirrels came out and started the first half with a quick 5-2 lead, but an Adrion Wall jumper trimmed it to one, 5-4. Jayden Eason would then give Apprentice their first lead of the game, after converting on a basket down low. Eason followed that up with another basket, but Mary Baldwin came back down and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 8-8. The Fighting Squirrels broke the tie after hitting another 3-pointer, but the Builders eventually pulled back to within one point after a Clifton Goode short jumper. Apprentice would regain the lead after Jayden Eason pulled down an offensive rebound and took it back up for the basket and the foul. He would convert the 3-pont play, which resulted in a two-point lead 20-18. However, the Fighting Squirrels would eventually take back the lead 24-22 and then extend it to 27-23, with 4:43 remaining in the half. With 3:35 remaining, Jayden Eason slammed home a fast break dunk to the tie the game at 27-27. Down by one, Clifton Goode found Adrion Wall for a layup to regain the lead, 29-28. After falling behind again, Jayden Eason hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to take it back, 32-31. Eason would do it again on the offensive side of the court and as the buzzer sounded, the Builders headed into the locker room with the lead, 36-33.
To start the second half, Apprentice jumped out to a 7-point lead, 40-33 and then extended it to 9 points after a Karree Smith layup. Smith would then steal the ball and find Marion Moore for a layup to increase the lead to 48-37. However, Mary Baldwin cut into the lead after two straight baskets, but a Jayden Eason fastbreak put the Builders back up by 11 points, 52-41. A 3-pointer by the Flying Squirrels pulled them within 9 points but, once again, Jayden Eason pushed the lead back to double digits when he took a pass and drove in for a uncontested layup. Out of a timeout, Avin Hawkins hit two straight baskets to give Apprentice the lead 60-48, with 9:48 remaining in the game. After both teams traded baskets, a Marion Moore scoop layup gave the Builders their largest lead of the game 64-51, but the Fighting Squirrels were eventually able to pull back within 11 points. However, two Jayden Eason free throws put Apprentice up 68-55 and that was followed by a Caleb Mielewski layup to take the 15-point advantage, 70-55. With 3:18 remaining. Mary Baldwin would hit a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 74-63, but after being fouled, Marion Moore put the game away after hitting two free throws. As the clock hit zero, the Builders would come away with their fourth game of the season, 80-65.
"This game was completely different from how I scripted it this past summer", said Head Coach Evan Kee. "We actually changed up our style a lot. We ran a lot of sets at half court to get the ball inside and we have a young frontcourt with 3 freshmen and 1 junior, and our freshmen came up big today".
Apprentice was led by Jayden Eason, who finished the game with 37 points, going 16-23 from the field and 1-3 from the 3-point line. In addition, Eason was 4-5 from the free throw line, while also grabbing 12 rebounds. Marion Moore added 14 points, while Karree Smith finished with 8 points and 6 steals. The Builders defense also had a big night, scoring 20 points off turnovers. Apprentice will hop on the bus for a trip up to Maryland, where they will face Salisbury University Saturday at 5:00pm. Stay tuned to www.gobuilders.com for game updates.