BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Four members of the Oglethorpe men's basketball team reached double figures Friday night, but the Stormy Petrels fell 98-92 to Birmingham Southern in a Southern Athletic Association road game.
Uba Ezigbo led the way with 17 while Jackson Kemp followed with 14, then Mason Kemp and Jordan James with 12 each. Ezigbo and Ryan Jenei posted team highs of seven rebounds and four assists. James and Dylan Bennifield chipped in a team high three steals.
Oglethorpe trailed by as many as 15 in the first half and by 14 at the break but stormed back with a 6-0 run early in the second half and a 12-1 run midway through the second half to make it a one-point game. Ezigbo drained one of his three 3-point makes to finish that run, making it 75-74 with under seven minutes to go.
The Petrels looked to be in control of the game at that point, but Birmingham Southern answered Oglethorpe's 12-1 run with an 8-2 run of its own. That run put the lead back out to three possessions and Oglethorpe could only get to within five the rest of the way.
"We unfortunately just dug ourselves too big of a hole tonight," said Head Coach Philip Ponder. "I love the fight that we showed in coming all the way back to cut it to one, but it was just such an uphill climb and we ran out of time. We will look to bounce back on Sunday."
Game Notes
- All 10 players who entered the game also entered the scoring column
- Following Ezigbo and Jenei in the rebounding column were Jackson Kemp and Mason Kemp, both with six rebounds
- Oglethorpe shot 43% from the field (33-77) and from three (12-28)
- Ezigbo finished 3-for-3 from the perimeter
- This was the fourth time Oglethorpe scored 90 or more points in a game this season
- Oglethorpe moved to 5-8 (0-2 SAA) on the season
Up Next
Oglethorpe heads further west to Mississippi for Millsaps on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET before returning home for two games next weekend. The remainder of the 2022-23 slate features SAA games.
