ATLANTA— Dimetri Chambers scored 31 points and Lane Foster came close to a triple-double as the Oglethorpe men's basketball team started off postseason play strong with a win over Sewanee in the Southern Athletic Association quarterfinals. Oglethorpe trailed by 15 in the first half and by 11 with 11 minutes to go in the second half but rallied to win by a final score of 78-65.
 
The Petrels started out behind, trailing 33-18 with four minutes left in the first half, but a 10-0 run at the end of the half helped them to make up some ground. Sewanee still led at halftime with the score at 33-28. Oglethorpe quickly tied the game early in the second half until Sewanee again surged back ahead, leading 51-40 at the 11-minute mark.
 
Oglethorpe fought hard in the second half and tied the game at 59-59 with five minutes left, part of a 29-8 run over eight minutes late in the second half. Included in that run was a 15-0 run over five minutes beginning at the seven-minute mark that secured the victory for Oglethorpe.
 
"Our poise won us the game today," said Head Coach Philip Ponder after the win. "We could not get anything going offensively in the first half and got down pretty big, but we finished the half strong to give ourselves a chance. Even though we were down most of the second half, we took care of the ball, locked down on defense, and made some clutch shots to pull away."
 
Chambers' 31 points led all scorers. This was his 42nd career game scoring 20 or more and 13th career game scoring 30 or more. Chambers has scored 30 or more in seven games this season, including four in the last eight games.
 
Other contributors included Will Koch with 18 points, and Foster with 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Uba Ezigbo battled foul trouble but scored seven of his nine points during Oglethorpe's deciding 15-0 run late in the game.
 
"I thought our experience showed tonight," Ponder added. "That was a great come-from-behind win against a really tough team that was peaking at the right time. We are looking forward to next weekend."
 
Up next, Oglethorpe will head to the semifinals of the SAA tournament to face Hendrix, which beat Rhodes 90-42 in another quarterfinal matchup. Oglethorpe and Hendrix split the regular season as both teams won at home. The semifinals and finals of the conference tournament will take place Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 26-27, at Berry in Rome, Georgia. Information on game times and further details will be announced next week.