The Oglethorpe men's basketball team got a victory in their first road game of the season Monday night in Pasadena, California. They built an 11-point lead over the Caltech Beavers and held on as the home side came back late. The Stormy Petrels hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final 1:10 to secure a 60-56 win and improve to 2-1 on the young season. Oglethorpe used outstanding defense to turn the game in their favor, holding Caltech to 34 percent shooting and forcing 16 Beaver turnovers.
The Petrels got an excellent performance from senior guard Drew Patrick, who finished the evening with a double-double in his first game of the season. He collected 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, converting 6 of 8 free throw attempts in the process. Fellow senior guard Connor Smith also finished in double digits, scoring 15 points of his own while grabbing 7 rebounds. Junior guard Justin Edwards and senior guard Mike Turner tied for the team lead with 3 assists while Edwards and junior guard Chris Lawrence each recorded 3 steals.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the contest and the score was 11-11 with 15:34 left in the opening half. Consecutive 3-pointers gave the Beavers what wound up being their largest lead of the game, a 6-point advantage with 14:15 remaining until halftime. The Petrels began a run from there, however, and took control of the remainder of the period. They outscored Caltech 23-7 over an 11:20 stretch to build a 34-24 lead with 1:54 remaining in the half. The teams traded points to end the period, but the Petrels held a 36-29 advantage at the break.
The Beavers immediately put five straight points on the board to begin the second half, drawing themselves to within two, 36-34, and culminating a run of eight consecutive points dating back to the final basket of the first half. The visitors pushed their lead back out, though. They embarked on a 12-3 stretch over the next 4:50, a run largely keyed by excellent defense, to build their largest advantage of the game, 48-37, with 11:08 remaining.
Caltech did not go away quietly, though. They vaulted themselves back into the game with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the Oglethorpe lead to just one, 52-51, with 3:51 left. The two teams traded defensive stops several times but Lawrence got to the line with 1:10 remaining and made two free throws to give his side a 54-51 lead. The Petrels got another stop and Patrick sank a pair of free throw to give Oglethorpe a 56-51 lead with 39 seconds left. Another stop and another free throw gave the visitors a 57-51 lead with 25 seconds left. Caltech converted a 3-point play cut it back to a single-possession game, but a pair of Edwards free throws gave the Petrels a 5-point lead with 15 seconds left and Smith made 1 of 2 with seven seconds left to put it away.
The Petrels used defense to secure the victory despite suffering a poor shooting night. They shot just 33 percent from the field, 19 percent from 3-point range, and 65 percent from the foul line. Oglethorpe outscored the Beavers 20-8 off turnovers.
"Tonight was a grind-it-out win," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "It was definitely an ugly game. We really struggled to score, and I think that was a combination of good Caltech defense and poor shooting by us. We won this game on the defensive end of the court, which is something we talk about all the time. Defense can help you win games when you have an off night on offense. I thought we showed a lot of heart on defense tonight."
The Petrels continue their stay in southern California on Tuesday, when they move across the Los Angeles metro area to take on La Verne at 8 p.m. Eastern. The team will return home for Thanksgiving after that, then host the Oglethorpe Thanksgiving Classic against Maryville (Tennessee) and LaGrange over the weekend at Dorough Field House.