It took over two-and-a-half hours for the Oglethorpe men's basketball team to come away victorious Friday night at Dorough Field House, but the homestanding Stormy Petrels did just that with an 85-81 double-overtime win over the Hendrix Warriors. The victory improved the Petrels to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in SAA play.
The Petrels trailed by a basket in the final seconds of regulation only to get a pair of game-tying free throws from junior guard Lane Foster. In the first overtime period, Oglethorpe held a 6-point lead with under a minute left and a 3-point lead in the final seconds. However, a Hendrix three-shot foul gave them new life and they tied the game up to send it into double overtime. The Warriors then took an 81-79 lead with 45 seconds left in the second overtime period, but Foster converted a 3-point play to give his team the lead for good with 40 seconds remaining. Two big free throws by junior forward Josh Cammon and one by Foster put the game out-of-reach for the visitors.
Oglethorpe jumped out to a 77-73 lead in the first minute of double overtime. The teams traded free throws for a couple possessions, but a Hendrix 3-point play with 45 seconds left gave them an 80-79 lead. Foster came right back down and converted a 3-point play on the other end to give his team an 82-81 advantage with 40 seconds on the clock. The Warriors then turned the ball back over to the Petrels, and junior guard Dimetri Chambers drove to the basket and was fouled with 12 seconds remaining. Chambers was banged up on the play, though, and had to come out of the game. The Warriors selected Cammon from among the Oglethorpe players on the floor, but the Petrel frontcourt player calmly sank both free throws to give his team an 84-81 lead. Another Hendrix turnover gave the Petrels the ball back, and Foster sank one of his two free throws with 3 seconds left to clinch the victory.
The Petrels started things off well in the first overtime, too, taking a 68-64 lead over the first 2 minutes. They extended that to 72-66 with just under a minute left in the extra period, but Hendrix cut it to a 3-point game with a triple at the 42-second mark. A missed Oglethorpe shot gave Hendrix the ball back, and they forced a 3-shot foul out of the Petrels with a fraction of a second left. The visitors made all three free throws, sending the game to the second extra period.
Hendrix led 62-59 with a minute left in regulation. The teams traded empty possessions, but the Petrels got the ball back and got fouled with 7 seconds remaining. Sophomore guard Carlos Sone sank both of his free throw attempts to make it 62-61. The Warriors made 1 of 2 at the other end, setting the Petrels up with a chance to tie or win. Foster drove to the basket and got fouled with a second left, giving himself a chance to tie the game at the line. He did just that, sending it into the extra periods.
The Petrels won the game while shooting just 35.2 percent from the field overall and 7-of-34 from beyond the arc. They did it by holding Hendrix to 35.8 percent and 8-of-33, respectively. They also forced 23 Warrior turnovers and outscored them 23-8 off of turnovers and 11-2 off the fast break.
Foster finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds on 12-of-16 from the free throw line. He also collected five steals and three assists. Chambers added 26 points and three steals, while Sone scored 12 on 4-for-8 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.
"What an unbelievable ball game!" said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "I thought our defense was great the entire game, but it was a tale of two halves with our offense. We finally started being patient in the second half and good things started to happen for us. The guys showed an incredible amount of heart coming back in the second half, and then the last 11 minutes of the game were crazy with all of the twists and turns. We are excited to get the win and hope to build on this Sunday!"
The Petrels will be back in action from Dorough Field House Sunday, when they host Rhodes at 3 p.m.