HANOVER, Ind. - The Bluffton University basketball team battled HCAC heavyweight Hanover on Saturday, Dec. 4, dropping a 75-64 decision to the Panthers. Bluffton slipped to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the Heartland Conference, while Hanover stays perfect at 5-0 and 2-0 in the HCAC.
A pair of Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) triples following a Mike Ketner (Minster) three-ball made it 11-5 Bluffton at the 15:44 mark of the first half. Cosby's third straight make from distance less than a minute later pushed the Bluffton spread to 14-7. The home team answered with eight straight points before Damian Davis (Bexley) found Nolan Finch (Toledo/Cardinal Stritch) with 12:43 to play in the opening stanza.
Davis then connected with Cosby for his fourth make from distance, putting Bluffton up 19-17 at the 11:27 mark. A Ketner three knotted the score at 22 with 8:47 left in the half. Hanover scored the next 11 points before Ethan Stearns (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) broke up the Panther momentum with a shot from beyond the arc. Cosby knocked down three-pointers number five and six during the final 1:35 of the opening half, but Bluffton still trailed 41-33 at the break.
The visitors needed over two and a half minutes to dent the scoreboard in the second half, getting their first bucket from Chad Frey (Lima/Bath) with 17:28 on the clock. Trailing by 17, Ketner dialed up from outside the arc, making it a 14-point game with just over 12 minutes to go. Cosby's seventh triple of the afternoon made it 57-46 at the 11:26 mark.
An old-fashioned three-point play by Stearns pulled Bluffton within seven (63-56) with 5:51 on the clock, but Hanover salted away the 75-64 victory with a 12-8 edge down the stretch.
Cosby led all scorers with 28 points thanks to a career high seven three-pointers. He completed the double-double effort with a team-best 10 boards. Ketner was 3-of-7 from deep for 11 points. Stammen led the Beavers with four helpers.
Despite a red-hot 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) shooting display on treys, the Beavers hit just 20-of-55 (36.4 percent) overall from the field. The visitors were a solid 13-of-15 (86.7 percent) at the line.
The Panthers pulled down nine more rebounds (43-34) and dominated in the paint with a 34-18 scoring advantage. Hanover also finished with an 18-2 spread in fast break scoring.
Bluffton will return to action in a week when the Beavers host Transylvania University on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-