The Oglethorpe men's basketball team bounced back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to tie the homestanding Millsaps Majors Friday night, but Millsaps hit the shots they needed to down the stretch to secure an 80-74 victory at the Hangar Dome in Jackson, Mississippi. The loss dropped the Stormy Petrels to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in SAA play, maintaining their second-place tie in the league standings.

The Majors jumped out to an 8-0 lead over the opening 2:20 of the contest, but the Petrels came back with a big 21-6 run over 4:20 to flip the scoreboard in their favor, 23-16, with 10:50 left in the opening half. Three straight Millsaps baskets vaulted them back ahead, and the two teams traded baskets for much of the latter part of the second half. With the home side leading 34-33 at the 3-minute mark, they went on a 9-2 run to take a 43-35 lead with 1:20 left until the break. They led 45-38 at halftime.

Millsaps immediately sank consecutive baskets coming out of the locker room to push their advantage to 50-38 with just over 19 minutes to go, their largest lead of the game. Seven straight Oglethorpe points cut it to 50-45, then a 9-0 Petrel spurt over 3:30 pulled them even, 64-64, with 6:15 on the clock. It marked one of two times the visitors evened the score in the second half, but they proved unable to push into the lead. They tied the score again, 69-69, with 2:10 left, but a 9-2 run give the home side a 78-71 lead with 30 seconds left and all but clinched the game. 

Freshman guard Justin Day enjoyed a career-high 28 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Junior forward Josh Cammon scored 16 points on 8-of-12 from the field, grabbing seven rebounds and three steals in the process. Junior guard Lane Foster collected eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. 

The Petrels shot just 37.3 percent from the floor, but were an impressive 90 percent from the line. Unfortunately, they made just nine free throws to Millsaps' 16. The Majors outrebounded Oglethorpe 51-34.

Oglethorpe now heads to Alabama, where they'll take on Birmingham-Southern at 4 p.m. Eastern to close out the weekend road trip.