The Oglethorpe men's basketball team clinched a spot in the upcoming SAA Tournament and improved to 7-3 on the season with a 78-69 win over Rhodes at Dorough Field House Saturday evening. The win moved the Stormy Petrels to 6-3 in SAA play and solidified at least a top four spot in the conference standings, earning them a spot in this year's four-team SAA Tournament the weekend of March 12-14.

The Petrels took an 8-0 lead out of the gate, but the visiting Lynx answered with an 18-4 run to take a 6-point lead of their own, 18-12, with 12:33 left in the opening half of play. The Petrels turned that around with a 25-11 run to build a 37-29 lead with 4:53 to go until halftime. A 10-3 push late in the period gave the team a 47-37 advantage at the 1:49 mark, and they led 49-41 going into the halftime break.

Rhodes quickly sliced the Oglethorpe lead down to 49-46 and continued to hang around in the game. They took a 56-55 lead with 12:54 remaining. A 15-5 Oglethorpe stretch restored order, though, and gave the home side a 70-61 advantage with 6:14 left. The Lynx never again got closer than 5 points. 

Senior guard Lane Foster led the way for the Petrels with 27 points on 10-of-17 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. He also made three assists, two steals and two blocks. Sophomore guard Jack Murrah added 17 points and seven rebounds. Meanwhile, junior guard Carlos Sone enjoyed a statsheet-stuffing performance that gave him a double-double and brought him within shouting distance of a triple-double. He scored 10 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, passed out seven assists and made three steals. 

"Tonight was a hard-fought win," said Oglethorpe head coach Philip Ponder. "It was a tale of two halves. Our offense was rolling in the first half but we struggled to get stops. In the second half, we didn't shoot it particularly well, but our defense really stepped up the last eight minutes of the game. We didn't have our normal lineup out there, but I thought we had some guys really step up, so it was a good win for us."

The two teams will be back in action Sunday at 2 p.m. from Dorough Field House to complete the two-game series and close out the regular season.