The Oglethorpe men's basketball team used a great shooting day at the Thanksgiving Classic on Emory's campus Saturday afternoon to knock off Maryville (Tenn.), 86-75, and improve to 6-1 on the season.

The Stormy Petrels shot 61.7 percent from the field for the game, including 52.6 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line. The team was even better in the second half, missing just four shots from the field over the course of the period. They shot 77.8 percent for the period, including 80 percent from beyond the three-point line. In addition, they converted at a 91.7 percent rate from the free-throw line in the second half. They used this excellent shooting to pull away after Maryville had cut a 15-point Petrel lead down to a single point late in the second half. They also used it to more than offset a 36-28 rebounding advantage by the Scots and a period of foul trouble by a pair of centers, senior Jordan Kinney and sophomore Connor Sigrist.

Senior guard Alex Davis had a perfect shooting afternoon, scoring 17 points on 5-of-5 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. He also led the team with six assists. Junior guard Drew Patrick scored 15 points on 8-of-9 free-throw shooting while leading the team with eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Connor Smith added 16 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting.

The game did not start particularly well for the Petrels, as they fell behind the Scots, 11-5, in the early-going. However, Oglethorpe bounced back in a big way, outscoring Maryville 38-21 over the remainder of the period. This stretch included a 38-17 stretch which gave the Petrels a 15-point lead, their largest of the game, before the Scots scored four straight points to end the half. Smith had 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 3-of-5 from long range, in the opening half. Davis passed out four assists while Patrick was 6-of-7 from the line.

In the second half, Oglethorpe held onto their large lead for awhile, even extending it back up to 14 points a couple of times early in the period. They led, 53-39, with 15:11 remaining. However, Maryville began to cut into the lead. They used a 22-10 run and Petrel foul trouble over the next 10 minutes to draw to within a single point, 67-66. The Petrels had an answer, though, more-or-less closing the game out with a 17-3 push over the next four minutes to equal their largest lead, 84-69, with 40 seconds remaining. From there, they cruised home with the 11-point victory.

"Today was a really good win for us," said Oglethorpe Head Coach Philip Ponder. "I was proud of the way the guys handled some adversity when they cut into our lead. We could have panicked, but we did everything we needed to do in the last five minutes. We got stops, executed on offense, and made our free throws."

The 6-1 Petrels will now return to Emory Sunday afternoon to complete their Thanksgiving Classic schedule against LaGrange at 2 p.m. After that, they'll return to Dorough Field House for their SAA opener against Berry at 8 p.m. Thursday night.