MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Oglethorpe men's basketball team fought off a tough Berry squad on their home floor Saturday to come away with an 80-76 win over the home-standing Vikings and improve to 12-3 on the season, 3-1 in SAA play.

After a back-and-forth first half which featured 16 lead changes, 10 ties, and excellent shooting by both teams, the Stormy Petrels were able to build an arm's-length lead in the second half and never relinquish it. The Petrels led by as many as 10 points with 2:25 to go, but held a lead of four-to-seven points for the majority of the final period. Berry was able to cut into the Oglethorpe advantage late and had the ball with 30 seconds to go, down by just three points. However, the Vikings went for a quick two instead, failing to convert. The Petrels grabbed the rebound with 10 seconds remaining and made free throws down the stretch, holding on for the four-point victory.

For the game, the Vikings actually outshot the Petrels, 49.1-to-47.7 percent. The Petrels converted on 37.5 percent of their three-point attempts, when compared with Berry's 36.8. The Petrels were outrebounded by just three boards, 39-36, and passed out 14 assists to Berry's eight. The Petrels also forced 16 turnovers while committing just seven themselves. The Petrels outscored the Vikings 20-12 off turnovers and 40-33 in the paint.

Senior center Jordan Kinney had one of his finest games of the season, scoring 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Senior guard Alex Davis recorded a double-double, for his part, scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 boards. He also passed out six assists and made five steals. Sophomore guard Connor Smith scored 12 points on 3-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Neither team was able to gain much of a foothold in the first half, with the two teams trading baskets for the majority of the proceedings. Berry had a 28-26 lead with 6:21 left in the half, but the Petrels finished the stanza with a solid run, building a 38-33 advantage with 58 seconds left after a 12-5 run. Berry was able to get a basket back at the end of the half and the Petrels led 38-35 going into the locker room.

In the second half, Oglethorpe began to push the Vikings out to arm's length, leading by as many as six, until Berry came back to pull to within a single point, 53-52 with 11:34 to play. Oglethorpe answered with an 8-2 run, though, pushing their lead back out to 61-54 with 8:53 remaining. Berry came back to within three with a four-point run, but the Petrels again slowly pushed their advantage back up, culminating in a 75-65 lead with 2:25 remaining. From there, Berry qucikly worked their way back into the game with an 11-3 run, though, and had the ball down by three points, 77-74, with 25 seconds remaining. However, they missed a shot and the Petrels got the rebound. Sophomore guard Romello Bates calmly sank the free throw which put the Petrels up by four with under 10 seconds remaining, clinching the game.

"This was a tough, hard-fought win," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "We did a good job offensively, but struggled to get stops all day. We could never quite pull away, but held them at arm's length and made plays on the offensive side, as well as down the stretch. Close games are good for us and anytime you can pull out a road win in conference, it's big."

The Petrels will now get set for four more consecutive road games. Next weekend, they'll travel to Jackson, Miss., to take on Millsaps Friday night at 9 p.m. Eastern, then battle Birmingham-Southern in Birmingham, Ala., at 4 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.