In the first half Virginia Wesleyan (17-4) raced out to a 10-2 lead following the second of consecutive 3-pointers from Rodney Young with 17:41 left. The Builders then rallied back and took a 14-12 lead on a pair of free throws from Curtis Pender with 11:31 left. Following a handful of trading lead buckets, the Builders worked the lead up to 30-24 on a Charles Holiday jumper in the lane with 4:51 remaining. The Marlins stormed back and went on a 10-3 run over the next 2:40 following another 3-pointer from Young with 2:11 left. Holiday answered that with another jumper at the 1:30 mark for a 35-34 lead and the Builders held on for a 39-36 halftime advantage.
Apprentice School (4-15) pushed the lead to 44-39 barely 90 seconds into the second half following a 3-pointer from Michael Dunston with 18:33 left. Following that shot, the Marlins commenced to go on a 16-5 run over the next 3:26 to take a 55-49 lead following a 3-point play from Brandon Adair with 14:59 left. From there, the Marlins never saw the lead shrink beneath three points.
Virginia Wesleyan was paced by Brandon Adair with 30 points and eight rebounds, while Newport News native Ton Ton Balenga scored 21 points with five rebounds and four assists. Young and D’Juan Tucker added 10 apiece.
Apprentice School was topped by Holiday with 22, Pender with 18 and Terrance Bryant added 10. The Builders will travel to Southern Virginia on Saturday for a 2 p.m. matchup with the Knights.
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 89, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 74 VA. WESLEYAN (17-4): Sumpter 2-6 0-0 4, Balenga 5-13 7-8 21, Adair 13-21 4-5 30, Young 3-7 2-2 11, Warren 1-7 1-2 3, Tucker 3-4 2-2 11, Glover 0-2 0-0 0, Fantin 1-3 2-2 5, Riley 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 30-67 18-21 89. APPRENTICE (4-15): Holiday 7-17 8-8 22, Pender 4-7 9-10 18, Bryant 4-10 2-2 10, Dunston 3-7 1-1 9, Robinson 1-8 2-5 4, Cherry 2-2 0-0 5, Lockhart 0-0 0-0 0, Gilchrist 1-1 0-0 2, Carey 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 24-56 22-26 74. Halftime: NNA 39-36. 3-point goals: VWC 11-27 (Balenga 4-10, Young 3-7, Warren 0-3, Tucker 3-3, Glover 0-2, Fantin 1-1, Riley 0-1); Apprentice 4-13 (Holiday 0-2, Pender 1-1, Bryant 0-2, Dunston 2-5, Robinson 0-2, Cherry 1-1). Rebounds: VWC 39 (Sumpter 12); NNA 33 (Robinson 9). Total fouls: VWC 19, NNA 16. Fouled out: Bryant. Assists: VWC 20 (Sumpter 6); NNA 13 (Pender 5). Technical: Bryant, Gilchrist. Att.: 825