The Oglethorpe men's basketball won the West Palm Beach Tournament championship Saturday at Oxbridge Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida, knocking off the Merchant Marine Mariners 63-54 to claim the title. The Stormy Petrels ran out to a 39-20 lead at halftime and held off the Mariners in the second half to clinch the 9-point win. The Petrels improved to 5-5 on the season.
Junior guard Dimetri Chambers led the way for the Petrels, scoring 30 points on 4-for-8 from long distance and 10-for-12 from the free throw line. He also collected five steals and took home tournament MVP honors after scoring 23 points in Friday's win over Goucher.
Junior forward Josh Cammon joined Chambers on the all-tournament team, collecting 10 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in Saturday's championship game. Sophomore guard Ryan Jenei added 8 points for Oglethorpe.
The Petrels held Merchant Marine to 42.2 percent from the field for the game while shooting just 33.3 percent themselves, but they shot an outstanding 84.2 percent and scored 16 points from the free throw line. Oglethorpe forced 23 Merchant Marine turnovers while committing just 11, and outscored the Mariners 24-3 off turnovers.
Oglethorpe got the game off to an outstanding start. Merchant Marine scored first, but Oglethorpe responded with a 37-15 run spanning much of the first half. They took a 20-point lead, their largest of the game, with 1:30 left in the first half, 37-17. They led by 19 going into the halftime break.
The Petrels quickly built their lead back up to 20 points early in the second half, but Merchant Marine began to fight their way back into the game. They outscored Oglethorpe 17-4 over 5:45 to pull to within 7 points, 47-40, with 9:20 left in the game. Oglethorpe made consecutive baskets to push their lead back out to 11 points with 7:30 left. The teams traded baskets for several minutes after that, but Chambers hit a 3-pointer with 3:05 left to put his team up 57-45. The Mariners got as close as 61-54 with 45 seconds on the clock, but the Petrels hit free throws down the stretch.
"I thought we played an excellent first half, especially on the defensive end," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "We also shot the ball well from 3-point range. We went cold in the second half, but were able to do enough to hold them at bay. I thought we were good defensively both games down here, and although we struggled offensively in the second half today, we had our best offensive game of the season against Goucher on Friday, with some really good ball movement and a solid first half today. It's nice to go into the break with a couple of wins, and we hope to keep progressing."
The Petrels will be back in action Dec. 29 and 30, when they host the Holiday Inn Express Classic against St. Joseph's-Brooklyn and Brevard.