The Oglethorpe men's basketball team hung tough with the visiting Berry Vikings Saturday night in the SAA opener for both teams in Dorough Field House. Up by a single point with 3:20 left, though, Berry went on a 12-2 run over a 3-minute stretch to take a 65-54 lead and ice the game. The result dropped the Stormy Petrels to 3-5 on the season overall and 0-1 in SAA play.

The Petrels went a combined 1-for-9 from the field during the stretch that put the game away for the Vikings, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range. It turned what had been a solid back-and-forth battle, with six lead changes and three ties, into a pull-away win for Berry. 

Oglethorpe led 33-29 at the break, but the Vikings slowly pushed their way back into it and took a 40-39 lead with 15:10 remaining. They pushed their advantage to as many as 6 points with a 13-3 run, taking a 45-39 lead with 12:30 on the clock. The visitors never again trailed, but the Petrels brought it back to within a point a couple times, making it 48-47 with just over 8:20 left and 53-52 with 3:40 on the clock.

The teams went back and forth early in the first half, but Oglethorpe went on a 9-1 run over 2:20 to extend to a 22-14 advantage with 7:10 left until halftime. Berry cut it back to a 4-point game again, but the Petrels used a 7-2 spurt to push out to their largest lead, 29-20, with 4:10 left in the period. Five straight points by the Vikings brought them back into the thick of it, and they trailed 33-29 at the break.

The Petrels played solid defense, holding the visitors to just 41.4 percent from the field overall and 7-for-27 from beyond the arc. They struggled mightily themselves, however, shooting at just a 30.4 percent clip overall and going 5-for-32 from distance. Converting at an impressive 85 percent clip from the free throw line kept them in it for awhile, but they couldn't overcome the late Berry run.

Junior guard Dimetri Chambers led the way with 19 points on 7-for-8 from the charity stripe. Sophomore guard Ryan Jenei added 11 points on 3-for-4 from the line, while junior forward Josh Cammon contributed 9 points on a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance.

"I thought our defense and our energy were great," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "I thought we were active and flew around on the defensive end of the court. We just really continue to struggle shooting the ball, and that should be a strength of ours. We missed a lot of wide-open looks, but I do think there was a stretch inside the last 10 minutes where we took some ill-advised shots. That's an area we're going to have to improve on. If our offense can catch up to our defense, we have a chance to do some good things."

The Petrels now take a lengthy break for final exams, and will return to the floor Dec. 20 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Oglethorpe will take on Goucher at 5 p.m. on Day 1 of the West Palm Beach Tournament.