The Oglethorpe men's basketball team shot 52 percent from three-point range and 49 percent from the field overall Sunday afternoon against Maryville at the Maryville Classic in Maryville, Tennessee. It wasn't quite enough to edge the high-powered home side, though, and the Scots prevailed over the Stormy Petrels 92-83. The result drops the team to 1-4 on the season and means they finish the Maryville Classic 0-2 after Saturday's loss to LaGrange.

The Petrels got several solid performances, though, led by junior guard Connor Smith, who scored 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-6 from three-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds, passed out four assists, and made a couple of steals. Sophomore forward Will Perry scored 17 points on 2-of-6 from three-point range and grabbed nine rebounds and two steals, while sophomore guard Justin Edwards got the start and finished with 17 points on 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He also grabbed eight rebounds, passed out a game-high eight assists and recorded a game-high five steals. Sophomore guard Chris Lawrence had 14 points on 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from long range while junior guard George Andino scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 2-of-3 from three-point range. Overall, the Petrels were 12-of-23 from long distance on the afternoon.

With the game tied 41-41 at the half, the Petrels briefly took a one-point lead a couple of times. A tip-in from junior center Connor Sigrist gave them a 48-47 edge with 17:29 left, which was followed by a jump shot from Edwards that gave them a 50-49 advantage with 16:46 remaining. From there, though, the Scots went on the run that put the game out of reach. They reeled off a 22-5 spurt over the next 8:30 to build a 71-55 lead with 7:30 to play. Back-to-back Oglethorpe baskets cut the Maryville advantage back to 12, but the Scots soon pushed out to their largest lead of the game, a 20-point bulge with 3:35 remaining. The Petrels gave themselves a chance, though, with an impressive run over the next three minutes. They outscored Maryville 18-3 over that stretch to pull to within just five points, 86-81, with 43 seconds on the clock. The Scots made their free throws down the stretch, however, securing the nine-point win.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than five at any point. Oglethorpe pushed out to a three-point edge, 17-14, with 11:32 remaining, while Maryville came back and slowly pushed to a 32-27 lead with 4:57 left. The Petrels answered with a 12-6 stretch to end the half, though, tying the score 41-41 on a Lawrence three-pointer with eight seconds left.

Both teams shot well from the free throw line, with Maryville converting at an 87 percent clip to Oglethorpe's 79 percent. The Scots outrebounded the Petrels 36-30 and outscored them 30-15 off the bench, but Oglethorpe outscored Maryville 34-22 in the paint.

"We've had four losses in quick succession here, but I will say that I thought we took a big step forward today in a lot of respects," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "We played our best game of the year so far against an excellent team on their home floor. We have a long way to go, but I was really proud of the effort the guys gave today. We are getting more comfortable in our roles and are learning as we go. We need to build on the progress we had today. We know it's not going to happen overnight, but we are building towards being at full speed come January."

The Petrels will get SAA play underway on Friday when they travel to Mount Berry, Georgia, to take on Berry at 8 p.m. After that, they'll host preseason No. 18 Emory next week before a two-week break for exams.