The Oglethorpe men's basketball team emerged victorious Friday night from one of the craziest games in the annals of Oglethorpe basketball, knocking off the Millsaps Majors 114-107 in the first triple overtime contest of the program's modern history. They fell behind 96-86 with just 1:40 left in the second overtime, but outscored their opponent 11-1 over the rest of the period to send the game to the third extra stanza on an incredible off-balance 3-pointer that junior guard Dimetri Chambers banked in with less than 2 seconds left. The Stormy Petrels outplayed Millsaps in the third overtime, outscoring them 17-10 and pulling away to improve to 10-7 on the season overall and 4-2 in SAA play.
The Majors led 74-70 with just 35 seconds left in regulation, but Chambers hit a long 3-pointer with just under 30 seconds remaining to keep his team in it 74-73. The visitors made a free throw at the other end, but junior forward Josh Cammon rebounded a Chambers miss at the other end with 15 seconds left and put it back up and in with 12 remaining in regulation, tying the score at 75-75. The Majors missed their chance to win the game, and Oglethorpe got nothing on a desperation heave, sending the game to the first overtime.
Cammon tapped in another miss to start the scoring in overtime, but a 7-2 mini-run from the Majors gave them an 82-79 advantage with 2:10 left. Chambers hit a 3-pointer to knot the score back up at 82-82 with 2 minutes remaining, but the visitors took a 2-point lead again with under 40 seconds on the clock. Cammon scored on another tip-in with 25 seconds left and a Millsaps chance went begging at the other end with a second on the clock, sending the game to double overtime.
The Majors ran off 10 straight points to start the second overtime period, and things looked bleak for the Petrels with the score 94-84 at the 2:15 mark. Millsaps still led 96-86 with 1:40 left, but the Petrels got a quick 3-point play from Chambers, then picked up a steal and a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 96-92 in almost no time at all. Another steal, this one by Cammon, facilitated a basket by the Petrel forward at the other end to make it 96-94 with just under 50 seconds remaining. Oglethorpe forced another turnover and, incredibly, had a chance to tie or take the lead less than a minute after finding themselves down by 10 points. They missed a couple of good looks, though, and Millsaps got the ball back. That forced the Petrels to foul, but the Majors made just 1 of 2 at the line, giving the Petrels a chance. Chambers made something from nothing on a broken play, somehow getting a prayer of a shot off with a defender draped over him. The shot banked high off the glass and through the net, setting off bedlam at Dorough Field House and tying the score at 97-97 with under 2 seconds left. The Majors got a good look at the other end, but couldn't convert, sending the game to triple overtime.
The Petrels had seemingly been scrambling to hang on since the final moments of regulation, but they finally wrestled the initiative away from the Majors in the third extra frame. They took the first lead of the period on a shot from freshman guard Justin Day. Then Justin Van Pelt, the Major center who grabbed 21 rebounds for the contest and had been giving the Petrels fits all night, fouled out with 3:40 to go. Oglethorpe was able to slowly pull away from there, getting out to a 7-point lead, their largest of the contest, and hanging on from there.
Millsaps led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but Oglethorpe fought back with a 13-2 run over 3:40, pulling back to within a point at 60-59 on a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Carlos Sone.
Chambers led the Petrels with 38 points on 5-of-8 from 3-point range and 11-of-14 from the free throw line. It marked a season high for the Petrel junior. He was joined with a season-high performance in both points and rebounds from Cammon, who collected 32 points, 18 boards and five steals. Day enjoyed a season-high of his own, pouring in 22. Sone played all 55 minutes of the game, while Chambers tallied 51.
"I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of the guys tonight," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "This group plays so hard and never quits. That might've been the greatest comeback, and one of the greatest games, I've ever been a part of. It's a testament to our players' resiliency and hearts. All I can say is, 'Wow!'"
The Petrels will have to rest up quickly from Friday's marathon contest, and they'll host Birmingham-Southern Sunday at 3 p.m. from Dorough Field House.