The Oglethorpe men's basketball team blew out the visiting Berry Vikings Thursday evening in their inaugural SAA conference game, defeating them 82-56, and starting 5-0 for the first time since 1997.

The Petrels fell behind by eight points early on, trailing 23-15 with 8:17 remaining in the first half. However, Oglethorpe ended the half on a 22-5 run. Center Jordan Kinney tallied 10 points in the first half, including a 4-for-4 mark from the free-throw line. Guard Branden Jovaag finished the half with six points on 2-of-3 shooting.

In the second half, the Petrels ran away from the Vikings, leading by as many as 27 points with 3:44 remaining in the contest en route to the 26-point victory.

The Petrels outscored the Vikings 34-28 in the paint, 22-5 on the fast break, and 25-12 off the bench. They shot 52 percent from the floor over the course of the game and held Berry to 37 percent shooting. Oglethorpe outshot the Vikings from three-point range 55 to 25 percent.

Jovaag had a huge second half, scoring 14 points after the break on 5-of-7 shooting, 4-of-5 from three. He finished with a total of 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He was 6-of-8 from three-point range and grabbed two steals, as well. Guards Alex Davis and Drew Patrick, and Kinney, all finished with 12 points. Guard Christian Molinet, the reigning SAA Player of the Week, had another stat-sheet stuffing performance, scoring five points, grabbing seven rebounds, distributing nine assists and swiping three steals.

The Petrels improve to 5-0 for the first time since the 1997 season and get off to a good start in the inagural season of SAA basketball, taking a 1-0 record into the main portion of conference play after the New Year. They will next take the court Saturday afternoon, when they travel to Lookout Mountain, Ga., to battle Covenant. Tip-off will be at approximately 4 p.m.