BUFFALO, N.Y. – The fourth-seeded Apprentice School men’s basketball team put up big numbers in the second half to advance to the USCAA semifinals with a 85-61 win over No. 5 Southeastern Illinois Tuesday night at Burt Flickinger Arena. Meanwhile, sixth-seed Mid-Atlantic Christian lost a hard-fought battle with No. 3 Villa Maria 60-55, ending the Mustang’s first appearance in the national tournament.

With the win, the Builders will take on No. 8 Berkeley in the semifinals Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Burt Flickinger Arena. The Knights knocked off top-seeded Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse, 81-68, in their quarterfinal.

Both teams came out firing in a back-and-forth affair, finding themselves tied up at 11-11 five minutes into the contest. The Builders tried to pull away, extending their lead to six, but the Falcons fought back to retake the lead at 23-20 with 6:54 to go in the first half. Apprentice answered with a 12-0 run to regain the advantage before SIC responded with five straight points to cut the lead back to 32-28. The Builders finished the half on a 6-2 run to take a 38-30 lead into intermission.

From there, the game was firmly in the hands of the defending national champs. After the start of the second half teetered around a 14 point lead for Apprentice, the Builders went on a 21-3 run to extend their lead to 70-40 midway through the second period. The Falcons never really caught any momentum from that point on as the Builders held the lead around the 20 point mark the remainder of the game to advance to the semifinals for a third consecutive season.

Adrion Wall, the Player of the Year for USCAA Division I, led all scorers with 19 points, coming up one rebound and three assists shy of a triple-double. He also added a block and two steals to his stat line without turning the ball over. Donovan Means added 13 points with seven boards while playing in foul trouble, and Wayne Hedgepeth came off the bench to add 12 points.

Story and image courtesy Apprentice Athletics