The Oglethorpe men's basketball team rode a 38-point performance from freshman guard Drew Patrick to a 97-86 upset, overtime victory over archrival Emory Monday night at a raucous Dorough Field House.
The victory improves the Stormy Petrels to 9-1, extending the best start in modern program history another game. It also marks the fifth time in the last eight games that the matchup between the two crosstown rivals has required overtime to decide the winner.
Patrick had the best game of his young career, leading the Petrels to victory. His 38 points came on 11-of-11 free-throw shooting and 12-of-19 shooting from the floor. He also shot 3-for-5 from three-point range and accumulated four steals on the night.
The Petrels found themselves down by six, 71-65, with 5:53 remaining in the game, but Patrick turned the game around with a four-point play with 5:30 left, making the score 71-69. Emory again extended their lead, this time leading by five with 3:30 remaining, but they would not score another point in regulation. Patrick hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 76-73 with 2:20 left, then after a back-and-forth minute where neither team could score, he drew another foul with 55 seconds left and brought the Petrels to within one with two more made free throws. Then after another missed jumper at the other end, sophomore forward Victor Rohlfs was fouled and went to the line with a chance to put his team ahead. Though he missed the first free throw, he buried the second and tied the game, 76-76, with 20 seconds left. Good Oglethorpe defense kept Emory from getting a quality shot at the other end and the game went to overtime.
In the extra period, the Petrels quickly fell behind by two, but a layup by junior guard Alex Davis tied the game at 78-all with 3:32 left. The Petrels never trailed again. The two teams traded baskets the next couple of times down the floor, but the Petrels took the lead for good on a Patrick layup with 2:07 left. Another Patrick layup with 1:20 left extended the Petrel lead to four, then a missed Emory shot facilitated a fast break with Patrick behind the defense. He emphatically dunked the ball for what was likely the back-breaking hoop, putting the Petrels up 88-82 with 57 seconds left. An Emory technical foul gave Patrick two more free throws, which he knocked down, as well. Patrick's 8-0 solo run iced the game for the home team, and they hit free throws and cruised from there with the 11-point victory.
Patrick wound up with 10 points in overtime on 3-of-4 field-goal shooting and 4-of-4 free-throw shooting. The Petrels shot 71.4 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the charity stripe in overtime. Emory shot 100 percent from the line in the extra frame, but shot just 14.3 percent from the field. The Petrels outscored the Eagles 10-4 in the paint, 5-0 off turnovers and 4-0 on the fast break in the overtime period.
The Petrels led 41-39 at halftime, but that was after falling behind by 13 points, 19-6, with 11:26 remaining in the first half. The Petrels went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead down to just two points, 19-17, with 8:42 remaining. A 7-0 Emory run pushed the lead back out, but Oglethorpe then embarked on a 17-3 run to take a five-point lead, 34-29, with 2:09 remaining in the half. Emory managed to whittle the lead down to two at the halftime break.
In the second half, the Petrels built their lead up to 11 points with an 11-2 run out of the gate. However, Emory seemingly put a stop to that, rattling off a 16-4 run over a three-and-a-half-minute span to take a one-point lead with 13:12 to go. The Petrels briefly restored order and went back up by four, but then a 12-2 Emory run seemingly put them in control of the game, giving them the six-point lead with 5:53 left, until Patrick's four-point play turned the game back around.
In addition to Patrick's career-best performance, senior guard Tyler Courson produced another excellent game. He scored 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting and 3-of-4 free-throw shooting, passing out four assists. Freshman guard Connor Smith added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench, hitting two of his four 3-point attempts.
The Petrels shot 50.8 percent for the game despite shooting just 35.7 percent in the second half. Their 71.4-percent overtime and 60-percent first half made up for it. Meanwhile, Emory shot just 33.3 percent for the game. They stayed in the game by completely dominating the Petrels on the boards, particularly the offensive boards. They outrebounded the Petrels 53-39, but outboarded them on the offensive glass by a whopping 29-8. Also, despite Smith's 12 points off the bench, the Eagles outscored the Petrels in bench points, 32-14. However, free-throw shooting was a big factor down the stretch, and the Petrels shot 77.4 percent from the line on the night, a big improvement over their season average of 61.2 percent.
With classes ending for the semester on Monday and final exams not starting until Wednesday, the student body came out in force Monday night, providing a great atmosphere in Dorough Field House, especially as the game between the intra-city rivals tightened down the stretch.
The Petrels will now take a three-week break for final exams and the holidays. They'll get back in action Dec. 29-30, when they host the Country Inn and Suites Holiday Classic at Dorough Field House. The Petrels take on Rust at 3 p.m. on Dec. 29 and Stevenson at 8 p.m. on Dec. 30. LaGrange will also take part in the classic and play the same two teams.