The Oglethorpe men's basketball team struggled shooting the ball Friday night in Mount Berry against in-state rival Berry, and it cost them in a 77-61 defeat. The Stormy Petrels shot just 31.4 percent from the field and were outrebounded by a significant margin, 57-33.
Berry used an early 10-4 run to take a 12-6 lead at the 13:50 mark of the first half. They followed that up with a 14-2 spurt over 6:40 to take a 26-12 lead with 6:15 to go. The visitors responded with a 15-7 run that cut the Vikings' lead to six, 33-27, with 2:40 to go until halftime. They got as close as five in the final minute of the period, but Berry led 40-32 at the break.
The teams traded baskets early in the second half, but the Petrels broke out with a 14-5 run that put them right back into the game. They trailed by a single point, 56-55, with 10:05 remaining. Seven consecutive Viking points put them back up 63-55 with 6:45 left, though, and a 12-1 Berry run spanning a 4:45 stretch put the game away. The home side led 75-59, their largest advantage of the game, with a minute left in the contest.
Senior guard Dimetri Chambers and junior guard Carlos Sone each had 21 points. Sone collected 15 rebounds and went 7-of-12 from the field overall including a 6-of-11 night from beyond the arc.
The Petrels forced 19 Berry turnovers while committing only seven themselves, and they outscored their opponent 18-9 off of turnovers. That wasn't enough to overcome Berry's sizeable advantage in shooting and rebounding, though. The Vikings also outscored the Petrels 28-8 off the bench.
"To beat a team like Berry, you need to bring your A game," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder, "and we didn't do that tonight. I thought we weren't very patient offensively, and we also missed some shots we normally make. Even though we didn't play our best, it was still a 1-point game inside 10 minutes. We just need to put this one behind us and get ready for tomorrow."
The Petrels go right back up to Mount Berry Saturday at 1 p.m., when they take on Berry in the second of this two-game set.