The Oglethorpe men's basketball team fell behind the home-standing Birmingham-Southern Panthers 38-24 at halftime Friday night and, despite a more even second half, they could not recover and fell in Birmingham, Ala., 75-59.

The loss came despite 13 points from junior center Jordan Kinney on 5-of-9 shooting and 3-of-4 free-throw shooting. They also got 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from junior guard Alex Davis, who added six rebounds and two assits. Junior guard Tyler Courson scored 11 points while freshman forward Will Perry added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and six rebounds.

The Petrels shot just 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Birmingham-Southern shot 41 percent and 35 percent from beyond the arc. The Petrels turned the ball over 18 times to just 12 for the Panthers, while the home side accrued 13 assists to Oglethorpe's five. The Panthers outscored the Stormy Petrels 19-6 off turnovers.

The Petrels never led in the game and the final of two ties happened with 18:12 left in the first half and the score 5-5. A 13-2 Birmingham-Southern run gave them a 27-13 lead with 6:02 remaining in the half. After the two teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, the Panthers led the Petrels by 14 points at the halftime break.

The Petrels were never really able to challenge in the second half as the Panthers kept them at arm's length for most of the period. The Panthers led by as many as 26 points in the half.

The loss drops the Petrels to 19-5 on the season, 9-4 in SAA play. They now fall into a second-place tie with Birmingham-Southern with one game to play. If the two teams finish the regular season tied, Birmingham-Southern wins the tiebreaker with their two head-to-head victories over Oglethorpe. The Petrels can finish no worse than third in the conference. They'll take on Millsaps to complete the regular season Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern. Next weekend, they travel to Danville, Ky., to compete in the SAA Tournament. The quarterfinals get started next Friday.