The Oglethorpe men's basketball team got an outstanding defensive performance Sunday afternoon at Dorough Field House, and used that effort to defeat the visiting Centre Colonels 76-69. The win improved the Stormy Petrels to 11-5 on the season overall and a perfect 5-0 in SAA play, allowing them to maintain sole possession of first place in the league and run their win streak to four in a row and seven of their last eight.
The Petrels held Centre to just 35 percent shooting from the field over the course of the contest, and also held them at 31 percent from 3-point range. That included a 26 percent mark in the first half from the field overall. Meanwhile, Oglethorpe shot 41 percent from the field overall and 42 percent from distance.
Centre began the game by jumping out to an 8-2 lead, but the advantage didn't last long for the visitors. Oglethorpe responded with a huge 22-5 run over the next nine minutes to completely turn the game in their favor, 24-13, with 7:30 remaining in the opening half. The Colonels were able to whittle that down to a 6-point deficit, 27-21, with 3:30 left in the period, but the Petrels again responded. They outscored Centre 7-2 over the final 2:40 of the half and entered the locker room up 34-23.
The home side pushed that lead out in the second half, outscoring the visitors 14-2 over the opening four minutes of play in the period and attaining their largest lead of the game, a whopping 23-point advantage, with just over 16 minutes remaining. When combined with the run at the end of the half, it was a 21-4 stretch over seven minutes of play. The Petrels led 51-28 with 14:23 left in the game.
Centre did not go away quietly, though. They came back with seven straight points to quickly cut the Oglethorpe lead to 51-35, then extended their run, outscoring the Petrels 18-5 overall over a 4-minute stretch to cut the Oglethorpe advantage to 56-46 with 9:49 remaining. The home side was able to knock it back up to a 14-point game, though, and keep Centre at arm's length much of the rest of the way.
Centre did cut the Oglethorpe advantage to seven points with just 51 seconds left, then further cut it to six with 31 seconds on the clock, 75-69. The Colonels got no closer, though, and a free throw from junior guard Taylor Bourdage put the game away with 14 seconds remaining.
The Petrels had to battle through foul trouble late, as both junior forward Will Perry and junior center Tom Inungu fouled out of the contest, with freshman forward Will Koch sitting on four fouls. They were able to battle through it and secure the victory, though.
Perry led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-14 from the field overall, 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Freshman guard Lane Foster led all comers with eight assists and three steals on the afternoon, grabbing seven points and seven boards in the process. Koch finished as the team leader in rebounds, collecting 10 of them. He also scored eight points on 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Senior guard Connor Smith scored 15 points on 5-of-10 from long distance.
"We were battling foul trouble, injuries and illness," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder, "but I was very pleased with the way we played. Our defense was great in the first half, and we really got our offense rolling early in the second. We didn't finish the game quite as strong as I would've liked, but we're very happy to get the win against a tough team. I'm obviously very pleased with where we are right now, but there is still a lot of basketball to be played. We just have to stay focused and keep working hard as we hit the road next weekend."
The Petrels travel to Jackson, Mississippi, to take on Millsaps Friday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, then continue to Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday for a battle with Birmingham-Southern at 4 p.m.