The Oglethorpe men's basketball team fell behind against Birmingham-Southern Sunday in the first half in Birmingham, Alabama. A big second-half run brought them from 16 points behind early in the period to within five with 9:02 remaining, but the homestanding Panthers pushed their advantage back out with a late run of their own and rode that to 66-53 win. The loss drops the Stormy Petrels to 11-12 on the season overall and 6-6 in Southern Athletic Association play.

The Panthers led 36-22 entering the second half and made the opening basket of the period to extend their advantage to 38-22. From that point, Oglethorpe began a run that brought them back into the game. They began on a 12-4 stretch to cut the Birmingham-Southern edge to 42-34 with 14:44 remaining. The Petrels continued on their run after that, stretching it to 24-13 over a 10-minute period of time to cut their deficit all the way down to five points, 51-46, with 9:02 remaining. Birmingham-Southern pushed their lead back out after that, though, going on a 15-5 run over a 7-minute stretch to build a 66-51 advantage with 1:40 left, closing the game out.

After the Petrels took an early 6-5 lead, the Panthers started to build their advantage. They outscored Oglethorpe 27-7 over a 12:40 stretch, pushing their lead out to 32-13 with 5:47 remaining in the half. It was their largest lead of the game. The Petrels answered with eight consecutive points of their own over a 4-minute stretch to pull back to within 11 points, 32-21, with 1:59 remaining in the half. The Panthers used a mini-run to push back out to a 36-22 lead at halftime.

Individually, sophomore guard Chris Lawrence led the squad with 11 points on 3 of 8 from 3-point range. Sophomore guard George Andino also finished in double figures with 10 points on 2 of 6 from long distance. Freshman center Josh McGrath had a solid game, as well, leading the team with seven rebounds and three assists to go with nine points. He finished the day 3 for 4 from the field and 3 for 4 from the free throw line.

The two teams shot similarly from the field, with the Petrels converting at a 35 percent clip and the Panthers at 37 percent. However, Birmingham-Southern outrebounded Oglethorpe 52-32, including 21-6 on the offensive glass. The Panthers recorded 15 assists on 23 made baskets to the Petrels' 7 on 18 baskets. The Panthers outscored the Petrels 25-9 in second-chance points.Oglethorpe did shoot 71 percent from the free throw line to BSC's 58 percent. 

"We didn't get off to a great start today," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "Once we finally settled down, we played pretty well the rest of the way. I liked the way we battled back in the second half, but we just dug ourselves too big of a hole. Just like in our last game with Birmingham-Southern, their rebounding edge was the difference in the game."

In Oglethorpe's 68-55 loss to the Panthers Jan. 10, Birmingham-Southern outrebounded them 52-27.

The Petrels will round out their regular season next weekend, when they travel to Sewanee, Tennessee, on Friday and Danville, Kentucky, on Sunday. They'll take on Sewanee Friday at 9 p.m. Eastern and Centre Sunday at 3 p.m.