ATLANTA – After a home defeat earlier this weekend, the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels are back on track with a 102-80 victory over the Warren Wilson Owls. This high-scoring victory keeps Oglethorpe undefeated against Warren Wilson, and saw a handful of Petrels make contributions on the court.
Fourteen Petrels made their way into the scoring column, four of them in the double digits. Senior Uba Ezigbo led with 18 points, freshman Mason Kemp followed with 15, Dylan Bennifield with 11, and Robert Reisman with 10. Reisman recorded a career high in points, while Malachi Dooley led and recorded a career high of six assists.
Griffin Cherry and JR Oyarekhua recorded their first points of the season, Cherry with eight and Oyarekhua with two.
"It was good to get back in the win column today," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "(Warren Wilson) has a bit of an unorthodox style of play, and they switch things up quite a bit, so we just had to react to all of the different defenses they threw at us. It was kind of an ugly game with a lot of fouls, but we shot the ball pretty well and our defense locked in about six minutes into the second half and helped us extend our lead. It is always good to have a win going into a break, so we will enjoy a little time off before our NCAA Division I exhibition game next Saturday."
Mason Kemp made a layup for the Petrels almost right off the bat, and also made two free throws in the first two minutes. In addition to a layup from Reisman, Oglethorpe created a 6-3 lead over the Owls in the first three minutes of the game. Warren Wilson reacted quickly, and was able to raise the score to 10-6 in their favor. At about six minutes into the game, with a score of 13-12, Warren Wilson would hold the lead for the last time in the game. Warren Wilson continued to fight to regain the lead, but Oglethorpe's defense and stellar offense ended the first half at 56-43.
After halftime, the Owls briefly bounced back, but the Petrels held their lead and went on a 23-1 run to create a nearly 30-point lead at 84-55. During this run, Ezigbo recorded seven points, including an impressive dunk. Additionally, Jordan James recorded four points during the run.
The Petrels and the Owls spent the next several minutes battling for control of the court, but the Petrels were able to maintain the nearly 30-point lead. Several baskets from Reisman edged Oglethorpe closer to a 40-point lead, but Warren Wilson would not allow a gap that large. After Warren Wilson was able to go on an 8-0 run and leave the Petrels sitting at 98 points, sophomore Terrence Northcutt broke the run and pushed the Petrels to 100 points with his successful layup.
Even though the Owls continued to score into the final seconds of the game, the Stormy Petrels had given themselves a cushioning lead early on, and ended the game victoriously at 102-80.
Overall, Oglethorpe recorded a field goal percentage of 48.7%, and a free throw percentage of 64.3%. The Petrels recorded a season high of 12 steals, and a high of 56 rebounds.
Game Notes
- Oglethorpe is now 3–2 for the season so far.
- The Petrels are now 6–0 against Warren Wilson since 2013.
- This was Reisman's first start in his career.
- Warren Wilson is now 1-4 for the season.
- The Owls also have a pair of freshmen identical twins on the roster, both of whom played tonight.
Up Next
Oglethorpe faces Georgia Southern on Saturday in Statesboro, Georgia, for an exhibition game. Then after a break for the holidays, the Stormy Petrels will head to Berry for the Southern Athletic Association opener on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 6 p.m. Oglethorpe's next home game will be Thursday, Dec. 29, at 4 p.m. to begin the Jack Berkshire Classic.
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