December 20, 2000


Bluffton College put together an impressive second half comeback Wednesday night to earn a 65-62 victory in Richmond, Indiana over the Earlham College Quakers. The win is Bluffton's fifth in a row as the Beavers now stand at 6-2 on the season and await the Third Annual McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament that tips off December 29.

Bluffton held a 9-8 lead early in the game but saw the host Earlham squad go on a 20-6 run midway through the first half to take control of the game. The Quakers took a 22-13 rebounding advantage in the first half and held Bluffton to a 33% shooting clip from the floor to forge a 34-26 halftime lead.

Bluffton battled back in the second half and regained the lead with 7:14 left to play thanks to baskets by Scott Remaklus, a 3-pointer by Chad Cramer and a pair of free throws by Ben Coole. That 11-2 run gave BC a 59-56 lead with under six minutes to go, but Earlham nailed three field goals in the paint to take a 62-61 lead with just under two minutes to play.

It would be the last points of the night for the Quakers, however, as the Bluffton defense, led by Travis Elsass, denied Earlham any open shots the rest of the way. Elsass collected six steals in the game, just one shy of the BC single-game record of seven held by Todd Varvel (vs. Adrian in 1991-92), and took several charges throughout the game.

Jeremy Roberts sank a layup with 1:16 to give BC a 63-62 lead, but Earlham got the ball back with 20 seconds left in the game to set up a final shot. Elsass, however, had different ideas, as he stepped in the path of an Earlham guard and took a charge with 9 seconds to go that sent the possession back to Bluffton. Rod Overmyer was fouled off the inbounds pass and sank both free throws to give Bluffton a three-point lead, and an Earlham 3-pointer at the buzzer rattled in and out.

Roberts scored a hard-fought 20 points to lead all scorers, while Elsass scored 14 points and hit three of four 3-pointers. Overmyer chipped in 12.