By: Joseph Watkins, sports information assistant
FRANKLIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University men dropped a tough one on the road to the Franklin College Grizzlies, 72-67, on Saturday, Feb. 16. The Beavers had three players in double figures on the day. Bluffton caps off the regular season at 17-8 overall and 11-7 in the Heartland Conference, while Franklin improved to 11-14 on the season and 9-9 in the HCAC.
With 14:39 left in the first stanza, the Beavers took their first lead of the game when junior Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) hit a jump shot that made it 8-7 in favor of the visitors. After a poor first half of shooting from both teams, Dezman Brown (Elyria) cut the Franklin lead to 26-25 following a jump shot with 1:09 left in the half. The Grizzlies would carry that 26-25 lead into the break.
The Beavers were looking to put behind them the poor shooting first half and catch fire in the second stanza. Sophomore Aaron Rich (Greenville) hit a jumper that cut the Grizzlies lead to 29-27 with 18:06 left in the contest. Bluffton was playing from behind for the majority of the game and saw its deficit grow as game progressed. But with 3:21 left in the game, Renner drilled a huge three-point shot that would make the score 63-60 in favor of Franklin. The furious comeback by the Beavers wasn't enough to overcome the Grizzlies' hot shooting down the stretch as Bluffton dropped a 72-67 decision on Saturday afternoon.
Bluffton was led by Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) who dropped in a career-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from outside the arc. He also pulled down three rebounds. Renner netted 16 on 7-of-18 shooting from the field. Brown also notched double figures with 12 on 5-of-9 from the field while pulling down five boards in the loss.
The Beavers hit 29-of-66 from the field for 43.9 percent, compared to 31-of-54 (57.4 percent) for the Grizzlies. Bluffton was 5-of-19 from three-point land for 26.3 percent. The Grizzlies were a ridiculous 9-of-15 (60 percent) from behind the arc. Franklin turned the ball over 13 times compared to just five miscues for Bluffton.
Despite nailing down the #4 seed in the upcoming HCAC Tournament, the Beavers will travel to Hanover College on Friday, Feb. 22, for a matchup with #5 seed Anderson University at 6 p.m. The winner will take on #1 seed and tournament host Hanover at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23 in the semi-finals. Go Beavers!
-BEAVERS-