The men's basketball team won their second straight game on Saturday night by topping Berry College on Pinholster Court, 69-66. While the Petrels won convincingly last Saturday night, they had to earn this weekend "W" with some big plays down the stretch.

The Petrels got off to a hot start nailing their first two three-point attempts of the game to open up a 6-0 lead that would gradually grow throughout the opening stanza. A three-ball by Alec Pitts increased the Petrel lead to 32-20 with 5:10 to play in the first half before Berry made a run to cut it to 4. Oglethorpe closed the half with a flourish scoring the final six points, however, to head into the locker room up, 40-30.

The Vikings put the Petrels on notice early in the second half that the game was going to be a fight. After Todd Ward scored on the Petrels first possession of the half, Oglethorpe would only make two more field goals over the next 10 minutes of clock as Berry used a 20-5 run to open up a 50-45 lead.

The Petrels still trailed the Vikings 55-50 with 7:45 to play before the Oglethorpe offense came to life for a spirited game closing run that earned the victory. Alex Richey converted a layup with 6:43 remaining to trim the Viking lead to three. After several empty trips for both teams, Ward went 1 of 2 at the free throw line to cut the deficit to two. The Petrels got a stop and then senior Alex Richey buried a clutch three with 3:31 left to give Oglethorpe the lead back, 56-55. Berry scored on the other end but Joe Kennedy answered with another three ball that had the Dourough Field House crowd rocking. The Petrels then forced a Vikings turnover that Kennedy converted into a tear drop floater off the glass to cap the run and give Oglethorpe a 61-57 lead with 1:56 to play.

Berry made a few long threes late in the game to trim the lead back to one but Oglethorpe took care of business at the free throw line down the stretch to seal the win.

Richey lead four Petrels in double-figures with 18 points on the night on 7 of 11 shooting from the field. Alec Pitts nailed 6 of his 8 shots for 18 points and Kennedy drilled 5 of his 7 looks to post 13 points. Ward finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

Both teams made 24 of 50 shots from the field for the game for 48%. The Petrels, however, were 9 of 16 (56%) from long range while Berry was 8 of 19 (42%).

Oglethorpe is now 5-3 on the season and will have a week off before facing Chapman in Los Angeles, California next Saturday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.