Newport News, VA - The Johnson & Wales Charlotte men's basketball team downed Apprentice School 81-72 on Sunday afternoon to earn their 3rd straight EMAC regular season title.

How It Happened:

• Apprentice scored 9 of the first 11 points in the game, staking themselves to a 7 point lead in the game's first three minutes. 
• The Wildcats responded with an 11-2 run over the next three and a half minutes, taking a 13-12 lead on Kevin Summers's layup.
• Back-to-back three pointers by Apprentice's Xavien Hunter and Corey Joyner put the Builders up 8 at 28-20 with five minutes left in the half.
• JWU finished the half on a 14-7 run to cut their deficit to one at the break, 35-34.
• Apprentice extended their lead to as many as 9 over the first seven minutes of the second stanza.
• Two JC Cooper charity tosses gave JWU their first lead of the second half at the 8:51 mark.
• The Wildcats slowly extended their lead from that point. They made 9 of 10 free throws in the last two minutes to seal the win.

Key Stats:

• The Builders outrebounded JWU 40-31, while JWU forced 16 Apprentice turnovers.
• JWU shot 50% from the field, 28-56.
• Anthoney Ray had a game-high 24 points to go along with 5 rebounds.
• Fred Patterson scored 22 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
• Zyrion Wilkins came off the bench to score 11 points and pull down 5 rebounds.
• JWU improves to 14-10 overall and 9-1 in EMAC play while Apprentice drops to 12-13 overall and 6-4 in EMAC play.

Up Next:

The Wildcats earned a bye to the semi-finals of the EMAC Conference Tournament. They will host the semi-final game on Thursday, 2/24 at 8:00pm. Opponent is to be determined.