NEWPORT NEWS, VA. - The Apprentice School cut a 20-point second-half deficit down to five, but it was not enough as visiting St. Paul's College held on for an 89-82 victory on Thursday night.
St. Paul's (4-5) jumped out quickly to a 10-4 lead on a tip-in from Maurice Reevey with 17:26 left. The Tigers never let off the accelerator in the opening half slowly pulling out to as much as an 11-point lead with 11:11 left on a Bruce Royal layup for a 24-13 advantage.
The Builders cut that lead to 26-19 on a 3-pointer from Antione Paige with 9:03 left, before the Tigers scored the next 10 points capped by a pair of Anthony Wynn free throws to take a 36-19 lead with 6:11 remaining. St. Paul's eventually worked the lead to 20 points on a Marcus Mitchell layup for a 51-31 halftime lead. The first half saw the Tigers hit 50% from the field, while Apprentice School was a cool 37.1% from the floor (13-of-35).
In the second half, an Adrian Moffatt 3-pointer gave the Tigers their largest lead at 56-35 with 18:49 remaining. That lead held around the 20-point mark with 12:52 left on an Andrew Maples 3-pointer, before the Builders started their massive comeback.
A quick 7-0 run cut the lead down to 72-59 on a Nolan Thompson jumper with 10:05 left. Following five straight points from the Tigers, the Builders went on a 12-2 run cutting the lead to single digits on a steal and layup from Eric Joe with 5:55 left for a 79-71 deficit.
Shahumaad Jones' dunk with 3:22 left put the Tiges back up 85-73 but the Builders had one last burst cutting that down to 87-82 on a Thompson jumper with 10 seconds left. Moffatt hit a pair of free throws with five seconds left to seal the victory for St. Paul's.
Apprentice School warmed up in the second half hitting 21-of-41 from the floor (51.2%), but the Tigers matched that by hitting 55.2% from the floor (16-of-29).
Eric Joe was the leading scorer for Apprentice School with 19 points, while Thompson added 18 and Paige chipped in 16. Royal was the leading scorer for St. Paul's with 21 points, Marcus Mitchell added 19 and Anthony Wynn along with Moffatt had 14 apiece.
The Builders return to the home floor on Saturday to face Randolph College at 2 pm
ST. PAUL'S 89, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 82
ST. PAUL'S (4-5): Jones 2-5, 0-2 4, Moffatt 5-10 2-3 14, Royal 10-17 0-0 21, Mitchell 8-11 1-2 19, Reevey 3-7 3-4 9, Maples 2-3 0-1 5, Wynn 5-9 4-6 14, LeSeur 0-5 3-4 3. Totals 35-67 13-22 89.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (10-8): Smith 1-3 1-2 3, Spratley 2-7 0-0 4, Ruffin 3-12 0-0 7, Paige 6-11 0-0 16, Joe 9-14 1-3 19, Cherry 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 7-13 2-2 18, Archer 0-0 0-0 0, Arrington 2-9 2-2 7, Washington 3-4 0-0 6, Johnson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 34-76 6-9 82.
Halftime: SPC 51-31. 3-point goals: SPC 6-18 (Moffatt 2-6. Royal 1-3, Mitchell 2-5, Maples 1-2, LeSeur 0-2); Apprentice 8-19 (Spratley 0-1, Ruffin 1-3, Paige 4-6, Thompson 2-5, Arrington 1-4). Rebounds: SPC 36 (Reevey 9); Apprentice 45 (Joe 8). Total fouls: SPC 9, Apprentice 21. Assists: SPC 16 (Royal 6); Apprentice 19 (Ruffin 8). Att.: 572.
