By: Ethan Stearns, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball dropped to 4-17 overall and 2-12 in the Heartland Conference as they hosted the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers on February 4, 2023. Rose improved to 12-9 with a 9-5 mark in the HCAC. Saturday marked the final Alumni Day with Head Coach Guy Neal manning the sidelines and he was honored for his 34 years at the helm following the game!
There were some really big plays for both teams in the first 20 minutes, but Rose-Hulman was able to take a 40-28 lead into the break. The play of the first half was a massive slam dunk from Connor Martin (Holand/Springfield) at the 12:41 mark. Martin was able to score seven points in the first stanza.
Marcus Bruns (Coldwater) made his presence known in the paint throughout the entire game, getting to the basket for an early layup. Freshman Brady Wheeler (Lima/Shawnee) dialed in a hit from distance before Michael Stammen (Versailles) used a nice move to convert a layup at the 8:24 mark. Bluffton played very tough, yet they still went into halftime trailing by 12.
Bruns continued his impressive performance, dropping 13 points in the second half, including nine straight in front of the Alumni Day crowd. Jalen Cromwell (Pickerington) made a nice post move to score a bunny. Nick Winslow (Norwalk/St. Paul) converted a jump shot off an inbound helper from Stammen. Senior Mike Ketner (Minster) saw his first action of the season, coming off an injury and sinking a trey at the 2:12 mark. Despite a great effort, the Beavers fell 81-55 to the Fightin' Engineers.
Bucketing a season-high 18 points, Bruns finished the night with a great stat line as he added three assists and a couple boards. Stammen led his squad in rebounds with five, which paired nicely with 10 tallies. Wheeler chipped in nine points of his own.
Rose finished with a slight advantage in field-goal percentage, shooting 50 percent (27-of-54), compared to 46.7 percent (21-for-45) from the home team. The visiting team shot lights out from beyond the arc, knocking down 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) while the Beavers made only 4-of-19 (21.1 percent).
The men are back in the Sommer Center for their final home game as they prepare to host Earlham College for Senior Night on Wednesday, Feb. 8. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. with senior recognitions set to take place prior to the start of the game.
-BEAVERS-
