CONWAY, Ark. - In yet another game that came down to the stressful final seconds, the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels defeated the Hendrix Warriors 73-70.
Everything came down to the final seconds, and Oglethorpe came up big at the free throw line in that stretch. Trailing by one with under 30 seconds left, Ryan Jenei tied the game and Jackson Kemp gave the Petrels the lead for good with two makes. Moments later, Trey Harris helped seal the game with two makes of his own with less than five seconds left. Oglethorpe finished the game on a 7-3 run, all seven points coming from the charity stripe.
Ten Petrels entered the scoring column, three of them reaching double digits. Jordan James led with 17 points, followed by Brent Smith with a career high of 12, Dylan Bennifield with 11, and Jackson Kemp with eight.
Jenei and Bennifield each recorded four assists, while Jenei and James each recorded two steals. Jenei also recorded 10 rebounds, with Bennifield recording a season high of seven.
As a team, Oglethorpe posted a 50.9% field goal percentage and a 66.7% free throw percentage.
"That was a great bounce-back win," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "I was disappointed with our defensive effort on Friday night, but we were really good today. Being able to put a bad game behind us and come back with a great effort today shows signs of maturity. We were shorthanded all weekend, but we had some guys step up today."
Junior Brent Smith began the game in Oglethorpe's favor, but the Warriors quickly fought back with an 11-0 run against the Petrels. But Smith got the Petrels back on their feet, as Oglethorpe worked to close the gap. After a small scoring drought, a 3-pointer from Mason Kemp tied things up at 13-13 with 11 minutes remaining. Hendrix tied the score once again at 15-15, but a layup from James gave the Stormy Petrels the lead they would hold for the rest of the period. After padding their lead, Oglethorpe headed into halftime up 40-33.
Hendrix started the second period off strong, giving Oglethorpe quite a scare. The Petrels were able to hold them off for a few minutes, until the Warriors were able to tip the score back into their favor at 46-45 with 13 minutes remaining. The remainder of the period seemed grim, as Oglethorpe was able to regain the lead, only to have Hendrix swipe it away again.
"Halfway through the conference slate, we now have five of our last seven games at home, so we want to take advantage of that down the stretch," Ponder continued. "Today was a really good road win."
Game Notes
- Oglethorpe's record is now 8-10 (3-4 SAA).
- Hendrix's record is now 3-15 (2-5 SAA).
- For the second game in a row, Jordan James was just one point shy of tying his career high in scoring.
- Brent Smith has now recorded a new career high in scoring two games in a row.
- The last time the Petrels faced the Warriors was on Feb. 26, 2022, and resulted in a 77-64 win for Oglethorpe.
Up Next
The Stormy Petrels will return home to host Rhodes on Friday, Jan. 27, at 8 p.m. Oglethorpe will remain home to face Hendrix once again, on Sunday, Jan. 29, at 2 p.m.
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