The men's basketball team lost to Birmingham-Southern on Pinholster Court on Sunday afternoon, 79-77. The Petrels led the 18-1 Panthers by one point following a Todd Ward bucket with 8 ticks left but the Panthers countered with a game-winning basket with 2.8 seconds remaining.

The Panthers put on a shooting exhibition in the first half, making 17 of 26 shots (65%) on their way to opening up a 31-17 lead with 9:00 minutes to play in the opening stanza. The Petrels responded with a 20-6 run over the next 7 minutes to tie the game at 37 apiece before the Panthers jumped back in front at the half, 44-40.

The Petrels took a brief second half lead at 48-46 following a hoop by Alex Richey but Birmingham would quickly retake control, using a 14-3 run to forge ahead 60-51 midway through the second. The Petrels battled back but still trailed the Panthers 75-69 with only 90 seconds left. Todd Ward buried four straight free throws to cut the lead to two. Then, with less than a minute left, Alec Pitts forced a steal and foul in the backcourt after which he made two free throws to knot the game at 75 apiece.

The Panthers connected for one of two at the line to go back in front by one with 35 ticks left. After a timeout, Oglethorpe burned clock until Joe Kennedy fed Ward for a turnaround jumper from 8 feet out that was pure, giving Oglethorpe the lead with 8 seconds remaining. The Panthers countered quickly, however, on a long outlet pass and forced an Oglethorpe foul that was called intentional. The Panthers tied the game at the free throw line, called timeout and, on a play with 5 seconds remaining, got the game-winning basket from Griffin Schamp with only 2 seconds showing on the clock.

The Panthers shot 58% from the field (30 of 52) in the win while Oglethorpe only connected on 39% of their shots. The Petrels, though, made a lot of trips (36) to the free throw line to hang around Birmingham. Oglethorpe won the battle of the boards 37-30 and held a 19-10 advantage in second chance points but could not overcome the hot shooting Panthers.

Alec Pitts led all five starters in double-figures with 18 points and 4 rebounds. Ward had 16 points and 12 boards while Richey netted 14. Kennedy added 13 points and 4 assists and Andrew Steioff - who saw his consecutive made field goals streak snapped at 20 - finished with 11 points.

The Petrels are now 13-9 (9-4) on the season and will travel to Greencastle to face DePauw this Friday night.