The Oglethorpe men's basketball team had to hang on Sunday afternoon on the first day of the Holiday Inn Express Classic, as the visiting Bears of St. Joseph's-Brooklyn came back from a 17-point deficit to take the lead midway through the first half. A couple of big baskets down the stretch secured the 68-63 victory for the Stormy Petrels, though, improving the team to 6-5 and putting them above .500 for the first time since their buzzer-beating win over Maryville (Tennessee) on Nov. 30. The win served as the third straight for the Petrels, who haven't lost since returning from their 2-week break for final exams on Dec. 20.
Sophomore guard Ryan Jenei tallied both of the baskets which helped the Petrels to victory late. He hit a 3-pointer, the team's first make from distance in 16 minutes, to give his team a 63-57 lead with 3:05 remaining on the clock. St. Joseph's made a pair of free throws with 2:22 left after missing three shots on the same possession but grabbing offensive rebounds after every one of them, then secured a tip-in off another offensive board to make it 63-61 with 1:45 remaining. Junior guard Lane Foster made a single free throw with 1:30 left, but the visitors had a chance to tie. They missed a couple more 3-pointers amid another flurry of offensive rebounds, but the Petrels got the ball back and Jenei drove to the basket for a layup off an assist from junior guard Dimetri Chambers, getting fouled in the process. He completed the 3-point play to make it 67-61 with just under 30 seconds remaining. St. Joseph's got no closer than 4 points the rest of the way, and the Petrels were able to secure the victory.
After trailing 46-35 at the break and 49-35 a possession into the second half, the Bears went on a 16-2 run over the next 8:15 to suddenly take a 53-51 lead with 11:20 remaining. Oglethorpe quickly took the lead back, but they traded baskets with St. Joseph's, leading to Jenei's heroics at the end.
The Bears began the game on a 10-3 run over the opening 4 minutes, giving themselves their largest lead of the contest. However, Oglethorpe responded with a 20-9 run over 9 minutes of play to take a 35-21 lead at the 6:30 mark of the first half. They eventually extended their advantage all the way out to 44-27 with 3:15 left in the opening half of play. The visitors responded with an 8-2 run to close the half and totaled a 24-4 stretch from there to the 11:20 mark of the second half.
Chambers led the way for the Petrels with 16 points, five assists and four steals, while Jenei finished with 8 points on 3-of-6 from the field. Sophomore guard Carlos Sone scored 10 points on 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while freshman guard Justin Day added a season-high 15 on 6-of-12 from the field.
The Petrels held St. Joseph's to just 29.7 percent from the field and 4-of-29 from the arc. They also enjoyed a 27-13 advantage on the fast break and a 20-10 edge off the bench. The Bears dominated the offensive glass, though, outrebounding Oglethorpe 20-5 in the category and blanking them 18-0 in second-chance points.
"I thought our halfcourt defense was solid once again," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "It's been carrying us all year. We were good offensively in the first half, but we had some turnovers that led to runouts for them in the second half, and we went cold shooting from the perimeter. But I like the fact that we withstood their run, settled down, reclaimed the lead, and we made a big 3-pointer, got some big stops late, and made our free throws to get the win. We've got another tough matchup tomorrow against an extremely athletic Brevard squad."
The Petrels take on the Tornados Monday at 4 p.m. in the final game of the Holiday Inn Express Classic. Brevard fell to Berry in the final seconds of Sunday's final game.