December 2, 2000


The Bluffton College men's basketball team improved to 3-2 on the season with a 92-80 victory Saturday afternoon over Bethany College (W.Va.).

Bluffton shot 58% from the floor in the first half on their way to a season-high 58 points and a 58-29 lead, but the visiting Bison squad turned things around in the second half, outscoring the Beavers 51-34 to keep the game close.

Bluffton went up by as many as 30 points in the first half, but Bethany opened the second half with a 22-5 scoring run that shrunk Bluffton's lead to just nine points with just over five minutes gone by in the half. The Bison kept the game close the rest of the way and were down by just eight points with 5:37 left to play, but Bluffton pulled away late to earn their third victory of the season.

Five Bluffton players hit for double figures, led by senior Jeremy Roberts (Bucyrus/Wynford) who scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Senior Ben Coole (Butler/Clear Fork) landed his second career double-double in just 19 minutes as he scored ten points and grabbed ten rebounds. Coole added four blocked shots, four assists and one steal. Junior Rod Overmyer (Payne/Wayne Trace) added 17 points.

Bethany's Nevada Smith nailed eight of 10 3-point attempts on his way to a game-high 30 points. Keith Schubert added 18 points for the Bison. Bethany falls to 3-4 on the season.

Bluffton will be in action again Wednesday night as the Beavers take on Denison University at 7:30 p.m. in Founders Hall.