VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. – A wild second half rally that saw the Apprentice School come from a 16-point deficit was not quite enough as NCAA Division III 9th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan College held on for a 75-73 win over the Builders on Monday night at the Jane Batten Center.
The first half saw the Marlins go on an 11-2 run to erase an early 6-5 Apprentice lead for a 16-8 advantage on a jumper from Ali Brown with 14:14 left. Apprentice School responded on a 13-4 run over the next 5:24 to take what turned into its final lead of the night at 21-20 on a Steve Woods jumper with 8:50 left.
Virginia Wesleyan used consecutive 3-pointers from Chris Astorga and Ed Roberts along with a three-point play from Rakeem Davis to end a 23-6 run over the next 6:31 for its largest lead at 43-27 with 1:19 left. Apprentice School used a jumper from Terrence Palmer and a layup from Tevin Andrews to close the half down 43-31.
A pair of Andrews buckets in a 48 second span in the second half brought the Builders to single digits at 48-39 with 17:22 left. Apprentice School hung around the next ten minutes and used an 8-0 run over a 2:38 span to tie the game at 60-all on a layup from Latrone Demiel. He and Andrews split the eight points evenly in that run to tie the game.
That appeared to jump start the Marlins as they went on a 12-4 run over the next 3:44 for a 72-64 lead on a pair of DJ Whitmore free throws with 58 seconds left. Chris Teasley's two free throws with 19 seconds left put the Marlins up 75-67, but the Builders did have one last flurry as a 3-point play from Andrews and a 3-pointer from Joseph Lyons cut the deficit to 75-73.
Andrews was the leading scorer pouring in 16 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and added 11 rebounds, while Isaih Harrison had another double-double with 18 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Demiel chipped in 10 points and six rebounds off the bench for Apprentice School (5-4). Astorga was top man for Va. Wesleyan with 18 points, while Teasley added 14 and Woodmore chipped in 12.
Apprentice School (5-4) now goes on the road to Pennsylvania to face U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association member Williamson Trade on Saturday at 2 pm in Media, Pa.
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 75, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 73
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (5-4): Tevin Andrews 10-18 2-4 22; Isaih Harrison 7-13 4-6 18; Latrone Demiel 5-8 0-0 10; Tim Johnson 3-7 2-2 8; Joseph Lyons 2-4 0-0 5; Darrell Fenton 2-5 0-0 4; Terrence Palmer 1-6 2-2 4; Steve Woods 1-4 0-0 2; George Shelton 0-0 0-0 0; Lewis Archer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-66 10-14 73.
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN (9-0): ASTORGA, Chris 7-16 0-2 18; TEASLEY, Chris 4-14 4-6 14; WOODMORE, DJ 4-10 3-5 12; DAVIS, Rakeem 3-6 1-1 7; VAUGHN, Donald 3-8 1-2 7; FORD, Tre' 2-6 1-2 7; ROBERTS, Ed 2-6 0-0 5; BROWN, Ali 2-3 1-2 5; BURNS, Jason 0-2 0-0 0; CREW, Art 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-73 11-20 75.
Halftime: VWC 43-31. 3-point goals--Apprentice School 1-4 (Joseph Lyons 1-2; Latrone Demiel 0-1; Tevin Andrews 0-1), Virginia Wesleyan 10-30 (ASTORGA, Chris 4-10; FORD, Tre' 2-4; TEASLEY, Chris 2-6; WOODMORE, DJ 1-2; ROBERTS, Ed 1-5; BURNS, Jason 0-1; CREW, Art 0-1; VAUGHN, Donald 0-1). Fouled out--Apprentice School-None, Virginia Wesleyan-None. Rebounds--Apprentice School 48 (Isaih Harrison 15), Virginia Wesleyan 43 (ASTORGA, Chris 9). Assists--Apprentice School 6 (Joseph Lyons 2), Virginia Wesleyan 17 (WOODMORE, DJ 5). Total fouls--Apprentice School 17, Virginia Wesleyan 13. Technical fouls--Apprentice School-None, Virginia Wesleyan-None. A-640.
VWC ranked No. 9 D3hoops.com nationally