Fredericksburg, VA – After the snowstorm postponed this past weekend's home games, the Apprentice Men's Basketball team hit the road to take on the University of Mary Washington in a non-conference match-up. This would be their final game this season against an NCAA Division III school and the Builders were looking to come away with the upset. Both teams were averaging almost 80 points a game and Apprentice knew it would have to step it up on the defensive side of the ball if they were to come away with the win.
The beginning of the first half saw both teams struggle to find the basket, until the Eagles finally broke through with a free throw two and half minutes into the game. However, a 3-point play from Adrion Wall gave the Builders the early advantage, 3-2. After a Mary Washington 3-pointer, Clifton Goode took the ball inside and converted a layup to keep Apprentice ahead at the first timeout, 6-5. Out of the timeout, the Eagles regained the lead on another 3-pointer, but 2 free throws from Corey Joyner put the Builders back in front. Both teams would continue to play well of the defensive side of the court and at the next media timeout, Mary Washington held the 2-point lead, 12-10. The Eagles proceeded to go on a 7-0 run forcing Apprentice to call their own timeout to slow down the momentum. Isaiah Jones was able to stop the run after a turnaround layup, out of the timeout, to get the offensive back on track. Eventually, Mary Washington was able to increase their lead to 9 points, but the Builders started to mount a comeback and pulled within 2 points when Vershawn Eley found Marion Moore for a dunk, 29-27. Each team scored another basket and as the half came to an end, Apprentice would go into the locker room trailing, 31-29.
As the second half got underway, Jayden Eason quickly tied things up at 31-31. The Eagles broke the tie, but Adrion Wall grabbed a loose ball and converted a 3-point play to go back out in front, 34-33. On their next possession, Caleb Mielewski gave the Builders a 3-point lead, but Mary Washington went on an 8-0 run to take the 41-36 advantage at the media timeout. An Eagles' 3-pointer increased their lead to 8 points and then with 11:59 remaining in the game, they found themselves with their largest lead of the game 48-36. Baskets by Isaiah Jones, Jayden Eason and Avin Hawkins started a 6-0 run for Apprentice which cut the lead in half, 53-47. After going down by 7 points, Xavien "Buck" Hunter drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull within 4 points, with 6 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately, Apprentice would not get any closer and as the buzzer sounded, they would fall to Mary Washington by a final score of 74-58.
Adrion Wall led the Builders in scoring with 10 points, while also grabbing 9 rebounds. Jayden Eason finished the game with 9 points and Xavien "Buck" Hunter finished with 8 points. Apprentice will arrive back in Newport News tonight and then get back on a bus tomorrow as they travel to the Carolinas for games against Warren Wilson College and Clinton College. Stay tuned to www.gobuilders.com for updates on both games.