The Oglethorpe men's basketball team hung with perennial SAA power Centre for much of Friday evening's contest at Dorough Field House, the SAA home opener for the Stormy Petrels. However, the visiting Colonels used a big run midway through the second half to secure a 77-67 victory over Oglethorpe, dropping the Petrels to 4-9 overall and 1-1 in SAA play.
The Colonels outscored the Petrels 20-7 off turnovers, 13-4 in second chance points, and 30-15 off the bench over the course of the game. Oglethorpe also shot just 50 percent from the free throw line, compared with Centre's 69 percent. Centre shot 46 percent from the field overall and 43 percent from 3-point range, while Oglethorpe put up marks of 44 percent and 32 percent, respectively. The home side did stay with the Colonels in the rebounding category, only getting edged 38-35 for the game.
Senior guard George Andino led the Petrels with 15 points on 6-of-11 from the field overall and 2-of-5 from 3-point range, grabbing 6 rebounds in the process. Junior guard Justin Edwards added 13 points on 6-of-10 from the field, passing out 3 assists in the process. Meanwhile, junior guard Chris Lawrence scored 12 points on 4-of-6 from the field overall and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.
The Colonels rolled out to a 20-7 lead early in the first half, holding that advantage with 10:09 remaining in the period. It served as their largest lead of the second half, but the Petrels began to come back towards halftime. They outscored Centre 21-8 over 7:30 and came all the way back to tie the score, 28-28, with 2:48 left until halftime. Centre led 33-30 headed into the locker room.
The second half began with the visitors pushing their lead out further. They outscored the Petrels 8-0 to begin the half, immediately taking a 41-30 lead with 18:27 left. The Petrels made a push, pulling to within five points, 44-39, with 16:26 to go, but Centre responded with a 16-8 run and followed that up with a 10-1 run to take their largest lead of the game, 70-51, with 5:05 remaining. The Petrels used a 14-2 run to get back into the game late, pulling to within just seven points at 72-65 with 1:28 remaining. They got no closer, however, and Centre came away with the victory.
The Petrels will next be in action Sunday at 3 p.m., when they'll welcome Sewanee to Dorough Field House. After that, they'll get set to travel to Birmingham, Alabama, and Jackson, Mississippi, to take on Birmingham-Southern and Millsaps next Friday and Sunday, respectively.