The Oglethorpe men's basketball team posted their second win of the Country Inn and Suites Holiday Classic with a hard-fought 77-76 win over Stevenson, making them the only team to go 2-0 in the men's event.

The Stormy Petrels also become the first Division III team in the nation with 11 wins this season, and will wait to see if they move into the D3hoops.com Top 25 for the first time in the program's history when the next poll comes out Monday, Jan. 6. They were tied with Stevenson for the 28th-most votes in the last poll, which came out Dec. 15.

The contest was a back-and-forth affair with seven ties and three lead changes. Neither team led by more than eight points throughout the contest.

Neither team scored for the game's first 3:30, but Oglethorpe took an early 15-10 advantage with 9:04 remaining. However, an 11-0 run from the visiting Mustangs gave them a 21-15 lead with 4:59 left. It would be the visitors' largest lead of the game. They led by five, 27-22, with two minutes left in the half, but the Petrels ended the stanza on a 7-0 run, capped by a layup from senior guard Tyler Courson, to take a 29-27 lead into the halftime break.

Courson scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting for the period, and sophomore forward Victor Rohlfs added 10 points of his own on 4-of-8 shooting and 2-of-4 from long range.

The Petrels shot 43 percent for the half compared with Stevenson's 33 percent, and also shot 33 percent from beyond the arc against the Mustangs' 13 percent. Stevenson shot just 44 percent from the line over the period, and the Petrels outscored them 12-0 on the fast break.

As the second half started, the Petrels quickly built their largest lead of the game. They embarked on a 10-2 run over 2:13 and took an eight-point lead, 39-31, early in the half. However, the Mustangs would not go quietly. They quickly went on an 8-0 run to tie the game up, 39-39, with 14:51 remaining. The two teams traded baskets for a couple minutes and Oglethorpe led 44-43 with 13:35 remaining. From there, they went on the stretch which played a huge factor in eventually winning the game, pushing the lead back out with a 15-9 spurt that gave them a seven-point lead, 59-52, with 8:48 remaining.

The Petrels maintained a seven-point lead, 71-64, with 4:52 left. However, the Mustangs made things extremely tight at the end. A 6-0 run put them within a single point, 71-70, with 3:21 remaining. The Petrels had the lead back out at four and had the ball with a minute to go, but a turnover and a Stevenson 3-point play off the fast break at the other end pulled the Mustangs to within one again, 77-76, with 50 seconds left. Stevenson got the ball back with 25 seconds remaining and had a chance to win, but Oglethorpe's defense forced two missed shots in the last 10 seconds and the Petrels held on for the one-point win. It was the fifth time this season that the Petrels' opponent has had the ball with a chance to win in the last possession, and the Petrels have won all five times.

Oglethorpe shot 57 percent in the second half to Stevenson's 43, including 60 percent from long distance to Stevenson's 13. However, Stevenson was very opportunistic, grabbing nine offensive rebounds and outscoring the Petrels 13-0 in second-chance points. Courson scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line for the period.

Courson finished with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-20 shooting against the Mustangs, while sophomore guard Drew Patrick contributed a double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also knocked down 6-of-7 free throws.

Rohlfs earned Holiday Classic MVP honors with two identical 17-point, 7-rebound performances. He shot 6-of-11 in both of them, as well. Junior guard Alex Davis earned a spot on the All-Classic team with Rohlfs. He scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting against Stevenson, adding five assists and two blocks. Against Rust on Sunday, he scored 12 points on 2-of-4 shooting, but buried 8-of-9 free throws, including a perfect 7-for-7 down the stretch, while passing out four assists and recording three steals.

The Petrels continue to shoot very well from the free-throw line of late. They shot 83 percent from the line as a team Monday, to go with 50 percent shooting from the floor and 43 percent from long range.

The 11-1 Stormy Petrels will have another extended break, with SAA play picking back up Friday, Jan. 10, when Oglethorpe travels to Conway, Ark., to take on Hendrix at 9 p.m. Eastern. They'll then swing back through Memphis, Tenn., to play Rhodes on Sunday, Jan. 12.