The Oglethorpe men's basketball team scored early and often against Covenant Tuesday night at Dorough Field House, easily dispatching them, 86-55.

After the two teams traded baskets in the early going, the Stormy Petrels began pulling away from the visiting Scots. With the game tied, 7-7, with 14:02 remaining in the first half, the Petrels started pulling away in impressive fashion, finishing the period on a 38-19 run. They held a 45-28 advantage at the break. Many different Petrels got into the act. Freshman guard Connor Smith had another excellent first half to go with the one he had at Warren Wilson last week, scoring 14 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting overall and 4-for-4 from the 3-point line. Junior center Jordan Kinney also had an excellent first half, contributing 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 4-of-5 free-throw shooting. The Petrels shot 48.5 percent in the half, including 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. They also outscored the Scots 11-3 off turnovers and 7-2 on the fast break.

In the second half, Covenant came up with the first two baskets of the half, cutting the Oglethorpe lead to 14 points, 45-31, with 17:25 left. It was as close as they would get. The Petrels immediately started a 20-6 run over a period of 5:30, turning the game into a laugher. The home team led by 28 points, 65-37, with 11:41 remaining. Then, after Covenant had whittled the margin down to 24 with 8:41 left, the Petrels went on another run, this one a 12-0 stretch over 3:30, to completely put the game away and give themselves a 36-point lead, their largest of the game. The Scots outscored the Stormy Petrels 9-4 for the remainder of the game, but the Petrels had built an insurmountable advantage, and cruised to a 31-point win.

For the half, Oglethorpe held the Scots to 21.1 percent shooting and built a 45.2 percent mark for themselves. Covenant also managed just 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from beyond the arc in the period. The Petrels outscored Covenant 16-4 on the fast break in the second half, and 41-27 overall.

For the game, the Petrels shot 46.9 percent to Covenant's 27 percent. Additionally, they shot 50 percent from three-point range to Covenant's 18.8 percent. They also outrebounded the Scots, 50-41. The Petrels outscored the Scots 23-6 on the fast break, 21-10 off turnovers and 34-24 in the paint.

Oglethorpe had four players earn double-figure point totals in this one. Kinney led the team with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 6-of-7 at the free-throw line. Senior guard Tyler Courson added 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting and 2-of-3 at the free-throw line, while sophomore forward Victor Rohlfs tallied 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 2-of-4 from three and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.

A truly massive number of people saw the floor in this game, as both teams were able to empty their large benches because of the lopsided scoreline. A total of 34 players saw the floor in the game for the two teams combined and 18 of them saw double-figure minutes.

The win improves the Petrels to 5-0 on the season, their third 5-0 start since moving to NCAA Division III in 1991-92. The other two came last year and in 1997-98. The 1997-98 team finished 16-9 in the last season under legendary coach Jack Berkshire and wound up in a third-place tie in the SCAC standings. Last year's team finished 17-10 and in a fourth-place tie in the SAA. They were eliminated in the semifinals of the SAA Tournament by host-and-eventual-conference-champion Centre.

The Petrels will now take their undefeated record to LaGrange, Ga., for the LaGrange Classic over Thanksgiving weekend. They will battle host LaGrange Saturday at 5 p.m. before taking on Maryville (Tenn.) Sunday at 3 p.m.