Men Notch Third Straight Victory with Win Over Hanover

The Oglethorpe University men's basketball team defeated Hanover College on Pinholstewr Court on Friday night, 77-71. After letting a late 14 point lead slip away, Todd Ward sealed the victory with a savvy baseline move to give the Petrels a four point cushion and the eventual win.

The teams traded blows in the game's first eight minutes and played to a 16-16 tie before Oglethorpe made a move on the Panthers. The Petrels broke the tie to close the half on a 33-19 run to provide a 49-35 lead at intermission.

Hanover managed to whittle the halftime lead down to 6 points at the 11:09 mark but the Petrels used another spurt over the next four minutes to push the lead back to 14 with only 7:12 remaining in the contest. Hanover responded, however, with a 12-0 run to make the game 73-71 with only 120 seconds left on the clock. That's when Ward went to work on the baseline to sink an acrobatic reverse layup to open up a four point lead with 35 seconds showing on the clock. The Petrels got a stop on Hanover's next possession and Ward hit a wide open Alex Richey for a breakaway layup with 12 seconds left to provide the final margin.

Oglethorpe was lifted by the return of senior guard David Allison who showed no ill-effects from missing the first seven games of the season with a knee injury. For the night, Allison led all scorers with 26 points on a deadly 9 of 14 shooting performance that included him sinking 4 of 6 shots from downtown. He also chipped in a team-high 5 assists in his triumphant return to the hardwood.

Todd Ward posted another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Alex Richey connected for 12 points to round out the Petrels in double-figures. Oglethorpe was 32 of 71 from the field in the contest for a 45% shooting percentage.

With the third straight win, Oglethorpe is now 5-3 on the season and will get set to face Colby on Pinholster Court on December 29 at 5:00 p.m.