The men's basketball team bested Millsaps College on Pinholster Court on Friday night, 72-64. The Petrels let a 23 point second half lead dwindle to only 4 before recovering to close out a win that saw Alex Richey net his 1,000th career point.

The Petrels jumped on the Majors in the early stages to build a comfortable working margin. The early push was highlighted by an 8 point spurt in only 45 seconds of clock time that featured three-pointers from Alec Pitts and Tyler Cerone to help Oglethorpe to a 15 point advantage. The Petrels eventually headed into the locker room leading 39-26 in a first half where they only turned the ball over twice.

Oglethorpe opened the second stanza on a 7-0 run to quickly take a 20 point advantage. The run was punctuated by a steal and thunderous dunk from Todd Ward. Moments later, Sam Purdy knocked down a three and, after a made Pitts free throw, Oglethorpe led the Majors 54-31 with 14:01 to play. The Majors would respond, however, with a methodical, clock grinding 31-8 run that closed the score to 66-62 with 53 second remaining. Sophomore Branden Jovaag converted a pressure packed one-and-one trip to the charity stripe to lift Oglethorpe to a six point lead. After a quick Millsaps hoop it was Pitts' turn to convert a one-and-one, which he calmly did to reestablish the 6 point cushion. After a failed three-ball from the Majors, Todd Ward finished the scoring by knocking down two more free throws.

Sophomore Andrew Steioff was perfect from the field, making all 10 of his shot attempts en route to 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and three blocks. Richey tallied 11 points, including his milestone basket on a drive late in the second half, to go along with 8 rebounds. Ward posted another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Pitts netted 12 points in the victory.

The win is Oglethorpe's fifth in their last six games and lifts the Petrels to 11-8 overall and, more importantly, 7-3 in league play. The Petrels are back in action Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. against Hendrix College on Pinholster Court.