The Oglethorpe men's basketball team lost a tough one to crosstown-rival Emory Wednesday night, 83-69, their second loss in a row.

The Petrels never led in the game, and though they kept it close for most of the first half, Emory pushed the lead out to 15, 31-16, with 4:23 remaining in the half. They expanded the lead to 17, 38-21, with 31 seconds left. Emory's halftime lead stood at 38-23.

At the start of the second half, the Petrels quickly went on a 6-0 run and cut the lead to 40-31 with 17:27 remaining, an Alex Davis three-pointer capping the run. But the Petrels never got closer than seven points, and never got within single digits again after being down nine with 15:31 remaining.

Emory outshot Oglethorpe 42-to-35 percent, and the Petrels hit just 6-of-22 3-point attempts. Oglethorpe did outscore the Eagles 26-20 in the paint, but Emory returned the favor 11-6 in second-chance points. Emory also had 19 assists as a team to Oglethorpe's 10.

Center Jordan Kinney led the Petrels in scoring with 12 points and in rebounds with 11. He only shot 3-of-12, but was 6-for-10 at the free-throw line. Guard Branden Jovaag scored 11 points of his own, and guard Alec Pitts returned to the lineup for the first time this season after suffering an injury in the preseason with 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

The 5-2 Petrels will next be in action Friday night at 9 p.m. Eastern, when they travel to sewanee, Tenn., for the Lon Varnell Classic. They will play Toccoa Falls on Friday night and Boyce on Saturday.