The Oglethorpe men's basketball team has participated in six overtime games this season and won them all, but the 67-64 overtime victory they secured over Millsaps Friday night in Dorough Field House might have been the most harrowing yet.
The Stormy Petrels shot just 31 percent for the game, including an abysmal 26 percent in the first half, but a second half of lockdown defense where they held the visiting Majors to just 28 percent shooting helped them work their way back into the game and put them in a position where they had a chance to win at the end. They would not have gotten there without a breakout performance from freshman guard Romello Bates, who poured in a career-high 16 points, passed out four assists and swiped two steals whie sinking 10 of his 13 free-throw attempts. Sophomore forward Victor Rohlfs added another double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while coming up with two blocks. He shot 7-of-10 from the line, as well. Freshman forward Will Perry picked up 13 rebounds of his own off the bench.
The Petrels led only once in the first half, 18-16 with 9:37 to go, and they needed a 13-4 run to get to that point after falling behind the visiting Majors 12-5. Millsaps took the lead back after that and had a 31-25 halftime advantage. They shot 50 percent in the first half to the Petrels' 26 and owned a 22-8 advantage in the paint and a 15-5 edge off the fast break.
The second half started much the same for the Petrels. They had a difficult time getting shots to fall and things went from bad to worse when the Majors went on a 10-2 run to begin the stanza and ran out to a 41-27 lead with 16:52 remaining. However, the Petrels started their comeback from there and would outscore the Majors 30-16 for the remaining 16:52 of regulation play. The Petrels had the lead down at seven points after a quick 7-0 run, but the Majors bumped the lead back up to 10 points with 12:46 to play after the Petrels picked up a technical foul for having six players on the floor. The lead was still ten, 47-37, with 11:22 left, but a 7-0 run knocked the Millsaps advantage down to three with 9:22 remaining.
The Petrels had plenty of time to get the lead back, but could never seem to get over the hump. They had a chance to tie or take the lead down two with 6:16 left, but a missed shot led to a Millsaps basket at the other end, putting them back up by two possessions. Oglethorpe had another shot down two with 3:45 left, but a turnover led to a Millsaps basket at the other end and they were back up by four again. The Petrels were down 56-54 with the ball and 2:30 left, but again missed the potential game-tying shot. They then missed two free throws down a single point with 1:08 remaining, but got a huge defensive stop at the other end and got fouled again with 19 seconds remaining. Bates missed the first, but he made the second and the Petrels had finally tied the game, 57-57. A quick defensive stop led to a chance to win the game at the buzzer for the Petrels, but they couldn't get a shot to go down, sending the game into overtime.
The Petrels came out on fire in the extra period and immediately took a 5-point lead with 3:11 remaining, making it look as though they might finally pull away. However, the Majors knocked down two quick baskets to pull back to within one, then had an opportunity to take the lead. The Petrels got another big defensive stop, however, and Rohlfs knocked down a couple of free throws to give the Petrels a 3-point lead. Bates made two more free throws down the stretch to maintain the 3-point Oglethorpe lead, 67-64, with six seconds remaining. Millsaps had a final chance to tie the game but could not get off a good shot thanks to more good Oglethorpe defending. The Petrels had escaped, 67-64.
The Petrels shot 33 percent in the second half, but 50 percent in overtime. Meanwhile, they held Millsaps to 28 and 33 percent, respectively. They won the game while shooting 31 percent from the field. Millsaps shot just 38 percent. Neither team shot well from distance, the Petrels shooting 21 percent and the Majors 22 percent. The Petrels dominated the game on the boards, outrebounding the Majors 50-39. including 18-7 on the offensive glass. Also, the Petrel bench came up huge, scoring 18 points with two players playing more than 20 minutes each.
With the win, the Petrels improve to 16-2 overall, 6-1 in SAA play. First-place Centre defeated Hendrix this evening, so the Petrels remain in second place a game behind the Colonels. The Petrels will welcome Birmingham-Southern into Dorough Field House Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. for a pivotal SAA contest. The Panthers sit in a third-place tie with Rhodes at 5-2, a game behind the Petrels. The 11-6 squad also features Larry Thomas, the league's leading scorer, who averages 21.1 points per game.