November 19, 2001
Two outstanding efforts have given the Bluffton College men's basketball team a positive start to the 2001-02 season as the Beavers are now 1-1 overall and preparing for their home opener on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 24, against Earlham College at 3:00 in Founders Hall.
Bluffton College saw tournament host Albion College go on a 13-1 scoring run in the final seven minutes of the game to defeat the Beavers 56-54 Friday night in the opening game of the Albion College Tip-Off Tournament in Albion, Michigan.
Bluffton led 8-0 after the first four minutes and held a 31-26 lead at halftime. A field goal by sophomore Brad Boyles with 7:50 left in the game put the Beavers up 53-43, but it would be Bluffton's last field goal of the night as Albion took the lead with 4:06 left to play and would not let BC reclaim the lead.
Bluffton outscored Albion 18-2 in the points-off-turnovers department and held the Britons to a 9-34 (26.5%)shooting performance from 3-point range. The Beavers also outrebounded AC 39-36.
Junior Mike Leimeister scored a career high 16 points in the ballgame and grabbed seven rebounds, while junior Marcus Bixler also netted a career high with 10 points. Junior Derek DeNero collected a game-high eight rebounds.
Bluffton is coming off an 84-67 win over Concordia College on Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the Albion College Tip-Off Tournament. BC fell to host Albion in the tourney lid-lifter on Friday night by a narrow 56-54 score, in which the Beavers led by 10 points with 7:50 remaining in the game.
Juniors Mike Leimeister and Marcus Bixler were named to the all-tournament team for their performance in the two ballgames. Leimeister averaged 19.5 points in the tournament, including a career-high 23 points in the final game. Bixler collected 20 assists, including a school record 13 against Concordia, and averaged nine points for the weekend.
Bluffton College shot a blistering 53% from 3-point range and 55% for all field goals in registering an 84-67 win over Concordia College (Mich.) Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the Albion College Tip-Off Tournament.
Junior guard Marcus Bixler set a Bluffton single-game record in the process as he dished out 13 assists, topping the old record of 12 held jointly by Darrell Buroker against Taylor in 1980-81 and Dave Sheldon against Adrian in 1994-95.
Junior Mike Leimeister was 11-15 from the floor and scored a team-high 23 points. Senior Rod Overmyer was knocked down seven of 14 shots, including two 3-pointers, to end the game with 18 points, while junior Derek DeNero was 3-4 from trey land and added 17 points.
Bluffton outrebounded Concordia 38-27 and shot shot 59% from the floor in the second half to build a 23-point lead. Concordia knocked that lead down to nine points with 5:26 left to play, but five straight points from DeNero and a bucket from Leimeister put the game out of reach for Bluffton's first win of the season.
Leimeister and DeNero's point total were both new career highs.
Bluffton (1-1) will host Earlham College on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 3:00 in Founders Hall.
Bluffton outrebounded their opponents in both games of the tournament and out-shot them, as well. BC collected 14 more rebounds and shot 46.7% from the floor, while holding their opponents to a 39.1% shooting clip.
With the opposition keying on All-HCAC returner Rod Overmyer, who averaged 12 points per game in the tournament, fellow starters Bixler, Leimeister, senior Kevin Grey and junior Derek DeNero made up the difference. Providing a spark off the bench in both games were sophomores Brad Boyles and Aaron Markley and freshmen Bryce Beilharz, Gabe Denning and Chris Keesey.
-BEAVERS-