Due to weather conditions, Rhodes pushed their travel plans back one day on their way to play Oglethorpe University on Friday, February 4th. The Lynx left this morning at 8am with one thing on their mind, to go beat Oglethorpe during Senior Night. It was obvious that the travel did not affect the Lynx as they came out with guns blazing. A see-saw battle saw 10 lead changes in the second half and overtime. Two clutch free throws with 0.1 seconds on the clock by Oglethorpe's Ward put the game into overtime. An instant classic saw the Rhodes Lynx fall just short in overtime, 79 - 78.
The schedule was all messed up due to icy road conditions through Birmingham, AL, but the Rhodes Lynx were not going to use that as an excuse. The Lynx came ready to play and ready to compete against one of the best offensive teams in the SCAC. A highly contested first half saw the Lynx grab a late first half lead, 36 to 29.
Early in the second half, the Stormy Petrels of Oglethorpe came out more aggressive defensively and put the Lynx on their heels. After Rhodes took their biggest lead of eight points with 17:48, Oglethorpe went on a 17 to 2 run to take a seven point advantage with 13:00 minutes remaining. The Lynx fought back with the sharp shooting of Freshman Johnny Dunavant and Sophomore Andrew Galow. Dunavant went 7 for 9 from the three point line, leading to a team high 23 points. While Galow added 19 points on 5 of 10 shooting from beyond the arc, adding 9 assists.
Late, the Lynx held a one point lead with under one minutes to play. The Petrels fouled and sent Junior forward Kory Kilpatrick to the free throw line for a one-and-one. Kory played well and finished the night with 17 points and 4 rebounds, but was only able to connect on the first of two. Rhodes secured the rebound and moved the ball to the hottest shooter Johnny Dunavant. Oglethorpe had no choice but to foul and put the Lynx on the line again for a one-and-one. Sadly Johnny missed the front end and Oglethorpe had the ball with 13 seconds left.
A three pointer by OU Senior Alex Richey missed the mark and a scramble for the rebound found the hands of OU Senior Todd Ward. Ward threw up a prayer and was rewarded with a foul call with the clock reading 0.1. Ward a 58% free throw shooter hit the back iron, the ball bounced four feet in the air and rattled in. He went on to make the second free throw and the Oglethorpe was lucky to see overtime.
In overtime, the lead went back and forth. Big shots by point guards from both teams left OU ahead by one, 79 - 78 with 15 seconds remaining. Rhodes took a timeout, setup a play, and took the floor looking to upset the Stormy Petrels. The Lynx moved the play and had OU on the ropes as Andrew Galow drove the lane. Contact was made, but no whistle and the ball rolled across the floor as the buzzer sounded. The Lynx could not believe the outcome and fell 79 to 78.
It may have been the best offensive performance from the Lynx on Friday, as they had four players in double figures and shot 52% for the game, 50% from three. Along with Galow, Dunavant, and Kilpatrick, Theo Hartwell came off the bench scoring 10 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in only 19 minutes. On the night, the Lynx had 22 assists on 27 field goals and limited their turnovers to only 10.
"This was a tough outcome to sallow, but our team played their hearts out," said Head Coach
Mike DeGeorge after the dust settled. "We have another important game on Sunday against Sewanee and we cannot have the result of tonight affect our play. Our team needs to respond and play with the same heart, determination, and guts that we played with for 45 minutes tonight."
The Lynx will be in action again on Sunday against the University of the South at 3pm. In order to stay in the hunt to make the SCAC conference tournament, Rhodes must beat the Tigers. Following live on the University of the South website.
