The Oglethorpe men's basketball team lost to Centre on Sunday, 79-63, in a game where they struggled defensively for most of the contest, falling behind the home-standing Colonels by as many as 25 points in the second half. The Stormy Petrels now sit at 14-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play, putting them in a three-way tie for third place in the SAA with Centre and Birmingham-Southern.
The Petrels shot fairly well from the field, converting at a 47.8 percent rate overall and a 50 percent one from beyond the arc, but Centre shot 65 percent for the game and 55 percent from three-point range. They also converted 84.2 percent of their free throws and outrebounded Oglethorpe by a 10-board margin. The Petrels did a good job keeping the turnover battle even (Centre 15, Oglethorpe 14) and outscored the Colonels 20-9 off the bench, but it wasn't enough to propel them to victory.
Despite losing to Centre, the Petrels still had several solid performances. Senior center Jordan Kinney was the leading scorer for the team with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Senior guard Alex Davis had a strong night, adding nine points along with three rebounds, and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Junior guard Drew Patrick had another good game for the team with nine points and six rebounds while sophomore guard Romello Bates added seven points for the squad.
Centre grabbed the lead early, jumping ahead of the Petrels, 8-2, with 16:07 left in the first half. The Petrels fought back to within three points of the lead, but the Colonels went on a 12-2 run to stretch the lead to 13 points with 7:11 to play in the first. A quick run brought the Petrels within seven of Centre, but the Colonels held on to go into halftime leading Oglethorpe, 39-30.
The Petrels continued to fall behind Centre as the Colonels went on a 7-0 run to lead 46-30 at the start of the second half. The Petrels battled back, though, cutting the Centre lead to 11 points after a 7-2 run. But Oglethorpe would never get closer than that, with Centre going on an 18-4 run to go ahead of the Petrels 66-41 with just 9:43 left to go in the game. The Petrels refused to quit, however, completing a 12-4 run to cut the Colonel advantage to 17 points after they led by as many as 25. With just 3:26 left to go, the Petrels fought to spark a comeback in the final minutes, but were unable to take the lead from Centre, who would up winning by 16 points.
"Centre was better than us today," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "Our defense, after being really good most of the year, just did not have a good couple of games in the losses to Sewanee and Centre. Even good teams have setbacks, though. Centre, for example, lost three of their first four conference games and they have obviously righted the ship. What is important now is how we bounce back from this. This is still a lot of basketball to play this season."
The Petrels will come home to Dorough Field House next weekend to host both Millsaps and Birmingham-Southern. Millsaps will come to town on Friday, when the Petrels will battle the Majors at 8 p.m. as part of campus homecoming festivities. Then, Oglethorpe will take on the Panthers of BSC, who they'll enter the weekend tied for third place with, on Sunday at 3 p.m.