The Oglethorpe men's basketball team fell behind the homestanding Piedmont Lions late in the first half Tuesday night in Demorest and never recovered, falling 74-58 to their in-state opponent. The result dropped the Stormy Petrels below .500 for the first time in 2019, moving them to 3-4.

The Lions converted 51 percent of their field-goal attempts and 9 of 19 three-point efforts, while the Petrels shot just 41.5 percent overall and 6 of 31 from long distance. In addition, Oglethorpe turned it over 23 times, allowing Piedmont to score 26 points off those giveaways. 

With the visitors up 21-15 at the 9:40 mark of the opening half, Piedmont went on a 28-11 run over the remainder of the period to take a 43-32 lead into the break. Oglethorpe pulled as close as 7 points a couple times early in the second half, trailing 48-41 with 15:15 on the clock. They were still behind by just 11 points with a little over 10 minutes remaining. The Lions responded with a 10-2 spurt over 2 minutes to quickly build their largest lead of the game, 66-47, with 8 minutes remaining. They cruised from there, again leading by 19 with as little as 2:40 left.

The Petrels got off to a solid start, hanging close with the home side as Piedmont took an early 13-9 lead. The Petrels then outscored the Lions 12-2 over a 3:30 stretch to build their 21-15 advantage, their largest of the game, with 10:25 remaining in the opening half of play. 

Sophomore guard Carlos Sone led the Petrels with 14 points on 6-of-9 from the field, while junior forward Josh Cammon added 11 on 5-of-8 from the floor. Sophomore guard Ryan Jenei led the Petrels with seven rebounds, and also threw in 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the foul line. Junior guard Lane Foster recorded five assists and four steals while scoring 8 points on 4-of-5 from the field.

The Petrels return to Dorough Field House Saturday night for the first time since their season opener Nov. 9. They'll take on Berry in the first game of the SAA campaign with tipoff set for approximately 7 p.m.