DELHI, NY – After winning their own tip-off tournament to open the season, the Villa Maria Vikings took home another regular season tournament title as they defeated The Apprentice School 83-58 on Sunday afternoon in the SUNY Delhi Hall of Fame Classic.  Senior DeJaun Owens scored a team-high 20 points while sophomores Lonnie Taylor and Gerald Bibbs each recorded double-doubles to pace Villa.
 
The Vikings (5-0) and Builders (2-1) traded baskets for the opening minutes before Villa used a 14-3 run to break an 8-8 tie.  After leading by as many as 11 in that stretch, the Vikings went cold from the field, allowing Apprentice to get within four, 24-20.  From there, Villa used another run, this time a 7-0 spurt capped by a steal and layup from Taylor to bump the lead back to 11, 31-20.
 
Villa turned a seven-point halftime lead into a double-figure lead less than three minutes into the second half and eventually increased it to 16 with nine minutes left after junior Daniel Thompson found fellow junior Stanley Foster open under the basket for an easy deuce.  From there, Villa kept its foot on the gas pedal until the final buzzer.
 
Villa shot 48.6 percent from the floor for the game and 55.3 percent in the second half.  Owens finished 7-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.  Taylor and Bibbs each scored 11 points and secured 12 and 11 rebounds respectively. 
 
The Vikings finished the game with 22 assists on 35 baskets as junior Jabari Hibbert had five helpers while also adding eight points and three rebounds.  Senior Jonathan Pozo added four points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench. 
 
Junior Trayvon Holt made his first start of the season and gave Villa quality minutes.  The Rochester native finished with two points, three assists and a rebound.  Also hailing from Rochester, Stanley Foster scored six points off the bench.  Freshman Kalon Kimble scored five and had two steals off the pine.  Senior leader Dominic Douglas put in work where needed to help the team win.  He scored just six points but added two rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
 
Apprentice was led by Drew Walton who scored 21 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.  Marion Moore added 15.
 
The Vikings edged the Builders in nearly every major statistical category.  They held the advantage in rebounding (48-39), turnovers (15-14), points off turnovers (18-13), second chance points (11-8), points in the paint (50-36), fast break points (12-6) and bench points (34-4).

WHAT'S NEXT
The Vikings will return home to host the Point Park Pioneers on Tuesday at 7 p.m.  This will be the Vikings' fourth NAIA opponent of the season.  It is the final game for Villa before the Thanksgiving holiday break.

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Photo courtesy of Stephanie Kaempf