Cassell

CONWAY, Ark. - Hendrix remained in first place by one game in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) following Friday's 83-72 win over Oglethorpe (Ga.). The Warriors won their third-straight game over the Stormy Petrels inside Grove Gymnasium.

Hendrix (9-4, 2-0 SAA) won its ninth-consecutive contest overall on Garrison Court and improved to 21-3 in its last 24 home contests.

Jonathan Ryan recorded career-highs in points (25), field goals (7), field goal attempts (12), free throws (9) and free throw attempts (9) in the win.

Sean Coman scored a season-high 24 points, two shy of his career-high, tied a career-high with five made treys and registered season-highs in field goals (7), free throws (5) and free throw attempts (7) in the triumph. He shot 7-of-10 overall and 5-of-8 from distance to go along with seven rebounds.

Coman, now with 141 made 3-pointers, passed Jaren Riley for ninth place on the program's all-time list and trails William Kellybrew's 143 for eighth. Coman, with 429 3-point attempts, sits seventh on the school's all-time list.

Darvis Rasberry Jr. and Alex Conrad each scored 10 points for the Warriors. Rasberry Jr. shot 4-of-7 inside the arc, while Conrad was 4-of-8 to go along with a game-high eight boards.

Carter Weakley tallied career-highs in points (7) and rebounds (6) in the victory.

Rasberry Jr. and Carl Fitch each pulled down five rebounds.

Fitch also rejected a season-high three shots, giving him 96 in his career, which ranks second in program history behind Colton Primm's 114. Fitch made his 73rd-career start, moving him into 10th place on the school's all-time list, trailing Justin Jaramillo (74) for ninth and Jason Hightower, Luke Vance and Harvell Howard, each with 78, for sixth.

Starting with 8:11 to go in the first half, Ryan and Coman scored 14 of their team's next 16 points. With his team leading 30-25 at the 5:54 mark, Ryan scored six-straight points for his team, which closed the period on a 16-6 spurt to grab its largest lead of the game, 46-31, at intermission. 

Hendrix blistered the net in the first 20 minutes, shooting 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the floor, connecting on 6-of-16 3s and going a perfect 4-of-4 from the stripe. The Orange and Black totaled 11 assists on 18 made field goals and limited the visitors to less than 15 percent (2-of-14) from 3. Coman scored 14 points, while Ryan had 13. Each player shot 5-of-7 from the field. Coman was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to go along with five boards. All of Jackson Parks' career-high six assists came in the period.

Oglethorpe (7-5, 1-1 SAA) outscored the Warriors 27-12 in the first 10 minutes of the second half, tying the affair at 58 following a triple by Will Koch, as he scored eight-straight points for his team. The Stormy Petrels shot 50 percent (7-of-14) from behind the arc in the period and took their first lead, 64-63, with 8:07 to play after an Uba Ezigbo basket, but trailing 67-64 at the seven-minute mark, a Conrad layup triggered a 7-0 run to put his team ahead for good. Hendrix sank 14-of-17 free throws in the final 5:47, including seven-consecutive under 1:14, and three consecutive steals by the Warriors allowed them to stretch their upper hand back to as many as 13 with 44 seconds on the clock.

Hendrix shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) overall, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from distance and 77.8 percent (21-of-27) from the stripe, including 17-of-23 in the second half. The Warriors outrebounded the Stormy Petrels, 42-31, and held edges in bench points (17-16), points in the paint (36-22), second chance points (9-6) and fastbreak points (18-12).

Dimetri Chambers finished with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting plus six of his team's 15 steals in the loss. Koch had 12 points on a 5-of-10 clip from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Ezigbo scored 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting but was 3-of-3 from the foul line.

Lane Foster dished out six assists in defeat. Koch and Carlos Sone collected as many rebounds apiece.

Oglethorpe shot 38 percent (27-of-71) overall, 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from 3 and 90 percent (9-of-10) from the stripe. 

Hendrix concludes a stretch of three-consecutive league games inside Grove Gymnasium on Jan. 9 against Berry (Ga.), which is receiving votes for the Top 25, at noon CT.