The Oglethorpe men's basketball team bounced back from Friday night's defeat to a hot-shooting Johnson (Tennessee) team with an equally impressive shooting performance of their own Saturday afternoon at the Lon Varnell Classic in Sewanee, Tennessee. They shot 55 percent from the field and an outstanding 46 percent from three-point range Saturday, hitting 18 three-point shots en route to a 106-53 rout of Boyce. The victory improved the Stormy Petrels to 1-1 on the young season.
The Petrels got an excellent all-around team performance on Saturday with five men finishing in double figures. Senior guard George Andino led the team with 16 points, shooting 6 for 9 from the field and 3 for 6 from three-point range. Three Petrels finished with 14 points, as junior guard Chris Lawrence, senior guard Connor Smith and sophomore guard Taylor Bourdage all accomplished the feat. It was a career high for Bourdage, who went 5 for 9 from the field and 4 for 8 from three-point range off the bench. Lawrence also shot 5 for 9 and 4 for 8 from long distance, while Smith went 4 for 6 overall and 3 for 5 from distance. He also converted all three of his free throw attempts. Senior guard Mike Turner finished with 12 points in his second game as a Petrel, going 4 for 5 from the field and 3 for 4 from three-point range. Junior guard Justin Edwards finished with a game-high 9 assists and 8 points.
The Petrels got off to an outstanding start, scoring the game's first 18 points and immediately putting to bed any worries about the quick turnaround from Friday night's game, which ended approximately 14 hours before Saturday's game tipped off. Their 18-0 lead came with 14:12 remaining in the opening half. The two teams traded baskets for a period and Boyce cut the Oglethorpe lead to 12 with 11:26 left in the first. However, the Petrels pushed the game out further with a big run. They outscored the Bulldogs 29-9 over the next 10:20 and built a commanding 53-21 lead with 53 seconds remaining in the half. Boyce scored three in a row before the break to make it 53-24 at halftime.
Oglethorpe did not let up in the second half, and almost immediately put the contest away with another big spurt. After a period of trading baskets for the first couple minutes of the half, the Petrels embarked on a 15-2 run over 2:40 to build a 72-33 advantage with 15:26 to go. The Bulldogs used a 10-0 run of their own to get it back to 72-43, but it wasn't long before the Petrels pushed their lead further out with a 16-2 stretch that extended their advantage to 86-45 with 9:22 left. The Petrels cruised home from there, finishing with their largest lead of the game, a 53-point bulge.
The Petrels dominated the Bulldogs on the boards, outrebounding them 50-30. They collected 22 assists and outscored Boyce 39-13 off turnovers, 21-3 on second-chance points and 51-10 off the bench.
"I was happy with the way we bounced back from a sub-par performance last night," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "I thought we came out flat and played sloppily last night, but today we came out with great energy and were much sharper in our offensive execution. Obviously, we shot the ball very well, too, and that always helps."
The Petrels will now fly across the country to the Los Angeles area for a two-game trip. They'll take on Caltech Monday night at 10 p.m. Eastern in Pasadena, California, before going against La Verne Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. Eastern.