Purchase, NY—The Oglethorpe University men's basketball team defeated The Sage Colleges, 81-70 in the AJ Buchanan Classic Friday night. The tournament is hosted by Manhattanville College. The Stormy Petrals, now 2-0, play in the tournament championship Saturday at 3 p.m. against Manhattanville. The Gators (0-2) will play in the consolation game vs. St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) at 1 p.m.
Will Koch led Oglethorpe with a game high 27 points and added seven rebounds, all on the defensive side. Will Perry scored 19 points with a game best 13 rebounds and Tom Inungo added 11 points with nine boards. The Stormy Petrals shot 45% and outrebounded the Gators, 45-37.
Sage was paced by graduate student Frane Larose (Miami, FL/Miami Beach Senior). He dished out a career and game high eight assists along with 16 points, also a career high. Junior guard Darius Denmark (Orlando, FL/Evans) scored 10 points and senior guard Chris Kidd (Troy, NY/Beacon) and sophomore guard Anthony Mitchell (Bronx, NY/Salesian) each had nine points. Kidd had nine rebounds to lead the Gators, who shot 40%.
Sage took a 10-6 lead at 13:41 in the first. But the Stormy Petrals went on a 17-0 run for a 23-10 lead with 8:36 left in the first. Oglethorpe led by seven at the half, 33-26. Sage trailed by 14 at 53-39 with 10:26 left in the second half but stormed back with a 27-8 run to get to within five with 4:39 left (66-61) but the Petrals held on.
