Hot First Half Guides Petrels to Road Win

The Oglethorpe University men's basketball team defeated the Trinity Tigers in San Antonio, Texas on Friday night, 66-62. The Petrels blitzed the Tigers with a 15-0 run midway through the first half to build a 20 point lead and then hung on down the stretch for the huge road victory.

Oglethorpe shot an impressive 55% from the field in the first half, connecting on 16 of 29 shots and sinking 6 of 13 from behind the arc. The 20-0 first half burst that took control of the game for the Petrels began with Alex Richey sinking a three-pointer to give Oglethorpe a 17-9 lead and ended with Tyler Cerone and Eddie Buckley each making three-balls to up the advantage to 29-9.

The Tigers made a bid to rally late in the contest and whittled the lead down to four, but the Petrels were excellent at the charity stripe down the stretch - making 14 of 18 in the second half - and the comeback bid was denied.

Trinity did manage to creep within two points of the Petrels after a made three with only 4 ticks remaining but freshman Alec Pitts calmly nailed two more free throws to seal the Tigers fate.

Richey led the Petrels with 15 points and 5 rebounds on the night and Todd Ward posted 14 points and 5 rebounds in the win. David Allison recorded 12 points on the evening and added a team-high 4 assists.

The Petrels are now 9-5 on the season and 4-2 in conference play. They face Southwestern tomorrow night in Georgetown, Texas.