The Oglethorpe men's basketball team heroically fought back from five points down with three minutes left on Senior Night Friday night at Dorough Field House to take a one-point lead with seven seconds left. However, Sewanee sank a three-pointer as time expired to snatch a 60-58 victory from the Stormy Petrels.

The Petrels came back from a very early 11-point deficit to take a six-point lead in the second half with 8:16 remaining. The visiting Tigers rallied, though, and they went ahead by five points with 3:53 remaining in the contest. The Petrels fought back to within a point on a Chris Lawrence three-pointer with 1:40 remaining, then a layup from sophomore guard Romello Bates back to within a point with 19 seconds left after two Sewanee free throws. On the next Tiger possession, Bates made a steal and went the length of the court to lay the ball in with seven seconds left, giving Oglethorpe a 58-57 advantage. However, Sewanee's buzzer-beater ruined the Oglethorpe comeback and gave the Tigers the season sweep over the home side.

Sewanee outshot the Petrels over the course of the game, converting at a 46.8 percent rate from the floor compared with Oglethorpe's 40.7. They also shot 40 percent from three-point range to the Petrels' 27.3. The Petrels did dominate in the paint offensively, scoring 32 points in the paint to Sewanee's 20, and outscored them 8-0 on the fast break. The Tigers outrebounded the Petrels 36-26, however.

The Petrels had some very good individual performances, with Lawrence scoring a team-high 16 points on 5-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-7 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the foul line. Bates added 15 points on 7-of-9 from the field while senior guard Alex Davis scored 10 points on 5-of-10 shooting, passing out three assists.

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead to start the game, as the Petrels didn't score a point until the 13:45 mark of the first half. When they did, though, they came storming back. Down 15-4 with 11:52 left in the half, Oglethorpe embarked on an 11-1 run to pull to within a point, 16-15, with 7:43 left in the opening stanza. The Tigers ran off three straight baskets to go out to a nine-point lead again, but the Petrels pulled to within five at the halftime break.

The Petrels tied the game right away to begin the second half and, after another Sewanee mini-spurt gave them another small lead, appeared like they might be taking control of the game. They went on a 14-2 run over a six-minute stretch to take their largest lead of the game, 46-40, with 8:16 remaining. Sewanee answered, though, going on a 13-2 run of their own to take the five-point lead with under four minutes to go, setting up the finishing sequence.

"Tonight was a heartbreaker," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "The guys played their hearts out. We got off to a terrible start due to some impatience on offense over the first few minutes, but we outplayed them over the final 35 minutes. I was extremely proud of the team's resilience and the way we fought back. Last year, we won six games when our opponents missed a game-winning or game-tying shot. Unfortunately, they hit the shot tonight. This was a tough one to swallow, but we can't get too down. This team can still go on a run in the SAA Tournament, just like we did last season."

Before the game, the team honored Davis, center Jordan Kinney and guard Sean Overstreet as part of Senior Night. The three-man tandem will finish their careers as the winningest Oglethorpe senior class since 1995.

The loss drops the Petrels to 16-8 on the season, 7-6 in SAA play. The team remains in a fourth-place tie with Birmingham-Southern, who lost at Rhodes this evening. Oglethorpe and Birmingham-Southern are now assured of holding the fourth and fifth seeds, in some order, and playing each other in the quarterfinals of the SAA Tournament next weekend. The host site will be determined by Sunday's play, as Centre and Rhodes remain tied for first with Sewanee a game back. The Petrels will conclude their regular season against Centre Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Dorough Field House.