ROME, Ga. - In their first Southern Athletic Association matchup of the season, the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels ultimately fell 78-62 after a strong fight against the Berry Vikings.
Twelve Petrels made their way into the scoring column, with one of them in double digits. Freshman Jackson Kemp led with 13 points, tying his career high. Uba Ezigbo followed with seven, while Trey Harris, Malachi Dooley and Jordan James each recorded six points. Ezigbo and Dooley led in assists, with four each. Ezigbo also led in rebounds, totaling six, while Ryan Jenei and Kemp each recorded five.
The Vikings were able to create a four-point lead to start the game, and were on track to strengthen that lead until Dylan Bennifield's successful 3-pointer. From there, the Vikings made it clear this would be a tough game, and continued to batter the Stormy Petrels.
A 3-pointer from James later in the period would bring Oglethorpe within a point of the Vikings for the final time, as Berry would keep the upper hand for the rest of the game. The Petrels persisted, and with one minute still on the clock in the first half, Kemp ended the period with a successful layup and the Stormy Petrels headed into halftime down 40-25.
As the second period began, Berry continued to give Oglethorpe a hard time. The persistent Petrels were able to go on several rather short runs, but were stopped and outdone by the Vikings after each one. In the final minutes of the game, the Petrels took away Berry's 20-point lead with an 8-0 run thanks to scoring from Jonathan Awoleye, Uba Ezigbo and JR Oyarekhua. The Vikings squeezed in one final 3-pointer, and after a hard-fought game, Oglethorpe ultimately fell 78-62 to Berry.
"Berry is a good, veteran squad," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "They are the defending champions with almost everyone back, and they were just better than us tonight. With a young squad, we are not where we want to be yet, but we will get there. We should be a much different squad when they come to our place in February. We just have to keep taking steps forward each game, starting on Monday."
Overall, the Petrels recorded a 41.8% field goal percentage, a 41.2% 3-point percentage, and a 64.3% free throw percentage.
Game Notes
- Oglethorpe is now 12–14 against Berry since 2010.
- The Petrels are now 3–3 (0-1 SAA) for the season.
- The last time Oglethorpe played Berry was at last year's SAA championship game, in which the Petrels fell by one point (63-62).
- Berry's roster is mostly upperclassmen, with only one freshman on the team.
Up Next
The Stormy Petrels will remain on the road, facing Brevard College on Monday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. Afterwards, the Petrels will head to Honolulu for the Hoops in Hawaii Holiday Classic from Dec. 17 through Dec. 19. The Petrels will return home to host the Jack Berkshire Classic on Dec. 29-30. The next conference game will be Jan. 6 at Birmingham Southern at 9 p.m. ET.
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