The Oglethorpe men's basketball team picked up their second victory of the weekend Sunday against the Hendrix Warriors, 73-68, and, just like Friday, used a gritty performance to secure the victory with a lineup depleted by injury. The victory moved the Stormy Petrels to above .500 on the season, 11-10, and improved them to 6-4 in Southern Athletic Association play.
The Petrels had fallen behind for the first time in the contest, 36-35, with 17:47 to play. They recovered over the next couple minutes, running off seven consecutive points to build a 42-36 lead with 16:11 remaining. The two teams traded baskets for the next several minutes, but the Petrels built their largest lead of the game, 58-50, with 6:20 left. The Warriors responded with a 7-2 run over the next two minutes, cutting the Oglethorpe advantage to 60-57 with 3:59 remaining. The Petrels still led by three, 64-61, with 2:50 remaining, but they scored consecutive baskets to build their lead back up to seven, 68-61, with 2:07 left. The Petrels made their free throws down the stretch, building their advantage back to eight, 72-64, with 30 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Chris Lawrence. Oglethorpe was able to cruise to the victory from there.
Junior guard Connor Smith led the Petrels with 20 points on 7 of 14 from the field overall, 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 6 rebounds. Senior guard Cole Romaguera enjoyed the best game of his career in his final home game as a Petrel, scoring 14 points on 3 of 3 from the field and 7 of 8 from the free throw line. Lawrence finished with 12 points on 2 of 4 from 3-point range and 4 of 6 from the free throw line. He also added three assists.
The first half was much like the second, with the Petrels holding the Warriors at bay for the majority of the proceedings. Oglethorpe jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Hendrix responded to tie the game at 8-8 with 13:38 remaining. The Petrels slowly pushed back ahead, building a 20-13 edge with 9:09 remaining. Hendrix hit a couple of buckets in a row to cut the Oglethorpe lead back to two, 22-20, with 6:20 left in the period. From there, the two teams proceeded to go back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, with the Petrels leading 33-29 at the break.
The Petrels shot 43 percent from the field for the game, while holding the Warriors to 34 percent for the contest. Oglethorpe also shot 37 percent from long distance while holding Hendrix to 21 percent from beyond the arc. The Petrels shot 69 percent from the free throw line. The Petrels led for over 38 minutes over the course of the game while Hendrix held a lead for just 20 seconds.
"Today was another grind-it-out game," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "We have a lot of guys stepping up in some other guys' absences, and it's been a total team effort. As long as we keep defending and playing hard, we'll keep giving ourselves a chance to win."
The Petrels will now hit the road for the rest of the regular season, starting in Jackson, Mississippi, and Birmingham, Alabama, next weekend. They'll take on Millsaps in Jackson Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern before going against Birmingham-Southern Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern.