BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team held off a furious Earlham College rally, downing the Quakers 67-62 on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. Bluffton improved to 6-12 overall and 2-9 in the Heartland Conference, while EC fell to 2-16 and 2-9 in the HCAC.
A pair of Sihr Sumner (Delaware, Ohio/Rutherford B. Hayes) buckets and an Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) triple helped the home team knot it up 10-10 at the 14:05 mark of the first half. With Bluffton trailing 17-14, junior Connor Martin (Holland/Springfield) got to the rack and Michael Stammen (Versailles) picked the Quakers off for an easy deuce, making it 18-17 with 7:46 on the clock.
Earlham was back ahead by six (26-20) when Matt Ray (Indianapolis, Ind./Herron) went to work, cashing in twice before three Stammen freebies made it a one-point deficit at the minute mark. Stammen's jumper with 40 seconds to go made it 27-26 Bluffton at the break.
The home team was on a mission when it came out to start the second stanza. A pair of Stammen triples sandwiched around a Ray make from distance had the Beavers up 42-28 just over five minutes into the half.
Stammen dialed it up again at the 11:53 mark and following a Myles Thomas (Chicago, Ill./Leo) bunny, Josh Crall (Bucyrus/Wynford) found his range with a deep triple! But following that high-water mark of 23 points (54-31) with 10:05 to play, the Quakers turned it around on a dime. A 29-8 jag over the next eight minutes silenced the Sommer Center faithful as the Bluffton lead was just 62-60 with two minutes and change to play.
The hero of the day, Stammen hit a jumper in the paint and then knocked down a pair of charity tosses as Bluffton sent Earlham back to Indiana with a 67-62 setback, avenging a Beaver loss on the road just one week ago.
Stammen lit it up for 24 points on 3-of-4 shooting from distance and 9-of-11 at the line! Martin and Ray followed with 12 and 10, respectively. Martin led the way with eight caroms, while Stammed stuffed the stat sheet with four assists and three steals. Martin stuffed the Quake show with a career-high five blocks!
Bluffton went 22-of-56 from the field (39.3 percent), but the Beavers were even better outside the arc, knocking down 8-of-20 (40 percent). The home team was 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) at the stripe, while EC attempted just three free throws. Earlham pulled down two more rebounds (38-36) and the visitors turned it over one more time (12-11).
The Bluffton men will be back in the Sommer Center at approximately 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27, when they play host to Hanover College.
-BEAVERS-