The Oglethorpe University men's basketball team defeated Emory University in Decatur, Georgia in a double overtime thriller on Monday evening, 97-93. Alex Richey scored a lay-up to give the Petrels a 94-93 lead late in the second overtime and then converted two free throws following a missed Emory field goal to seal the exciting victory.

The game started innocently enough with Emory forging a five point 32-27 lead at the half. Then, the two teams exploded offensively in the second half to open up a high scoring affair. One should have known this game would come down to the wire: the result of this one marks the third time in the last four games the two teams have played their way into overtime.
 
Down by two with 30 seconds to play, Todd Ward found Wade Weldon for a game tying lay-up to help send the game into the first overtime. The Petrels were then up by three with 22 seconds remaining in the first overtime before the Eagles managed to bank in a three-point attempt with only six seconds left to force the second extra session. Finally, in the second overtime, the Petrels broke through on the aforementioned Richey lay-up with 45 seconds left to take the lead for good and claim the non-conference win.
 
The game featured 18 lead changes and 15 ties to make it yet another Emory-Oglethorpe classic. The Petrels shot a scintillating 60% from the field in the second half and 54% overall for the game.  In a box score anomaly, Oglethorpe scored 97 points yet made only one three-pointer.
 
Alex Richey led the way for Oglethorpe with a monster game that included 34 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Todd Ward added 18 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots while Wade Weldon chipped in 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field. Freshman Alex Pitts tallied 16 points on the night to round out the Petrels in double figures.
 
With the win, Oglethorpe has won back-to-back games for the first time this year and stands at 4-3 overall. The team will have a brief hiatus for exams before returning to Pinholster Court to face Hanover at 7:30 p.m. on December 18.