BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Southern Virginia University men's basketball team improved to 3-3 Saturday afternoon, defeating the Newport News Apprentice School.
This was the third-ever meeting between the programs with the Builders winning the first matchup in 2018 and the Knights evening the series last season, winning 77-66 in Knight Arena. All five starters reached double-digits, led by Conner Marchant who scored a game-high 18 points.
Southern Virginia would hold Apprentice scoreless in the first three and a half minutes of the game, jumping out to an early 8-0 advantage off four points each from Koa Baker and Malakai Olson.
After the slow start, the Builders would catch fire, going on a 10-2 run to tie the game in the early stages of the first half. The tie was the closest the game would be, with the Builders never leading in the match.
Although Apprentice never held an advantage, it would not go away without a fight, cutting the deficit to two with just over three minutes remaining in the first half. Both defenses would lock down in the closing minutes of the first stanza with the only points coming from the Knights who would score just four points in the final four minutes, including a Baker driving layup as time expired to give his team a six point lead at the break.
In the second 20 minutes, Southern Virginia looked to run away with the game but Apprentice held its ground.
A Brian Tapia three pointer would stretch the Knights' lead to 16, the largest of the game, with just over six minutes on the clock. Tapia, a sophomore from Newport, Oregon, had his best outing in a Southern Virginia uniform, scoring nine points, all coming from beyond the arc.
The Builders did their best to battle back, but the advantage proved to be too much and the game ended with a score of 80-71 in favor of the Knights who shot an impressive 60 percent from the field in the second half.
Olson, who tallied a game-high 21 points, had the best performance of his junior campaign. "The coaches prepared us well for the game and everyone did a good job executing the game plan," exclaimed Olson. "We were solid defensively and went and got every rebound and our defense gave us energy on the offensive end. With everyone contributing it was a fun team win!"
Dane Ibsen also provided good minutes off the bench, reaching double digits for the first time as a Knight, scoring 12 points while shooting 66 percent from the field.
"We did a great job of playing connected as a team today," said head coach Adam Wardenburg after the game. "Apprentice is a very good, athletic team that pushed us the whole game. Defensively, our guys executed the game plan. We knew if we prevented them from getting to the basket and made them shoot outside shots, that we would have a great chance at winning and we did that."
"Offensively, we moved the ball well and did a great job of playing connected. We attacked the basket all game and ended with 46 points in the paint. We need to get better at moving without the ball, but we are getting better and I really love the direction that our team is heading."
The Knights will take to the court a week from today when they face off against Ferrum in Knight Arena next Saturday, December 3.
For all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University men's basketball, please visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_hoops on Instagram.
