No. 7 STATESMEN DOWN LANCERS TO ADVANCE TO REGION X SEMI-FINALS

PETERSBURG, Va. – The Richard Bland men's basketball team used a solid overall effort on both ends of the court and converted 22 points off of the Lancers 17 turnovers to advance to the 2015 Region X Semi-Finals after posting 85-61 win over Lenoir Community College on Sunday afternoon in Statesman Hall.

All-Region X Avery Ugba (Silver Spring, MD) led the offensive attack with 25 points while adding eight rebounds. He shot 12-of-17 from the field and 1-of-2 from beyond the arc.

All-Region X Reginald Moses (Henrico) netted 16 points while adding seven rebounds and Region X Player of the Year, Tavon Mealy (Armstrong) chipped in 12 points while aiding six rebounds in the effort.

With the win, the Statesmen improve to 26-4 overall, while Lenoir ends their season with a 12-16 overall record.

The Lancers was able to get out to an early 2-0 lead but it quickly dismantled after a Moses drained a 3-pointer to steal the lead with 19:13 remaining.

Both teams would exchange baskets to tie the ball game at seven all at the 16:06 mark until the Statesmen rooted a 6-2 run to lead 26-22 with 7:36 left in the half.

RBC would only lead by four going into intermission, 39-35.

As the second half got underway, Lenoir's Tre'Sione Bowser cut the Statesmen lead to two points after he scored a layup with just 36 seconds of play.

However, LeQuan Thomas (Virginia Beach, VA) good 3-pointer, a layup and another 3-pointer from Moses gave RBC an 8-2 run.

The Statesmen was able to sustain its lead late in the game and saw its five point lead extend to 19 points at the 3:50 mark. The Lancers would not have an answer as Richard Bland was able to secure the 85-61 victory.

The Richard Bland Statesmen will now advance to the Region X Tournament Semi-Finals to match-up against No. 13 Bryant & Stratton at Louisburg College on March 6th. The times for the semi-finals round will be released as they become available.

For more information on RBC basketball, please visit www.rbcathletics.com.

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