BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team led 44-34 at the half and they made that lead stand up as the Beavers evened their season mark at 2-2 with an exciting 87-79 win over Hiram College on Sunday, Nov. 26. Hiram fell to 1-5 despite 37 points from Trent Jakacki who hit 14-of-28 from the field.
Triples by Cam Rogers (Cincinnati/Christian) and Michael Stammen (Versailles) put the Beavers up 19-11 midway through the first half. Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) sandwiched a pair of fastbreak layups around another Stammen trifecta and Josh Crall (Bucyrus/Wynford) dialed long distance, making it 33-20 with 6:28 on the clock.
Snelling and Myles Thomas (Chicago, Ill./Leo) hit from in close and Rogers got a block at one end before a deuce at the other, putting Bluffton up 40-24 at the 3:10 mark. The Terriers closed the half with a 10-4 spurt but Connor Martin's (Holland/Springfield) chip shot with 30 seconds remaining made it 44-34 at the break.
A Trent Jakacki three at the 15:13 mark pulled the Terriers within eight (56-48) but seven consecutive Crall tallies pumped the lead up to 17 midway through the final stanza (69-52). Head Coach Taylor Roth, a former assistant for the Beavers, pushed the right buttons as the visitors trimmed the Bluffton lead to two points (79-77) inside of three minutes.
The home team was clinging to an 81-78 lead when Crall knocked down one of two at the line and Martin dropped a deuce. Stammen added a make from the line and Rogers salted it away with two more freebies as Bluffton moved to 2-2 with the 87-79 victory over a Hiram squad that hammered the Beavers 98-68 just one season ago!
Coach Clark's first victory in the Sommer Center was one to remember as no fewer than five Beavers hit for double figures on Sunday, the second time in four games that Bluffton has accomplished that feat. Rogers led the way with 18 points and five boards on a highly efficient 5-of-7 afternoon from the field. He drilled 7-of-8 at the line. Stammen and Crall both went for 17 markers with Stammen a perfect 3-of-3 from outside the arc.
Martin was 6-of-9 for 13 points and five rebounds, while Snelling just missed out on a triple double. The transfer from Manchester scored 12, ripped down 10 boards and dished out seven dimes, all career highs! Stammen stuffed the stat sheet with four assists, a block and two steals, while Crall added a game-high five pickoffs! Thomas made it six Beavers with at least eight points thanks to a 4-of-5 day at the charity stripe.
Bluffton was outstanding from the field, connecting on 30-of-59 for a 50.8 shooting percentage, including 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from distance. Hiram pulled down two more rebounds (39-37), but the visitors also turned it over two more times (16-14). Bluffton finished with 16 assists, 11 more than the Terriers, and the Beavers blocked eight Hiram shot attempts!
With no mid-week games on the calendar until next week, the Beavers will gear up for their Heartland Conference opener against Rose-Hulman. Tip off with the Fightin' Engineers is slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, following the 1 p.m. women's matchup with RHIT.
-BEAVERS-