December 10, 2001
Owning one of the top defenses in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Bluffton College men's basketball team will look to snap a four-game losing skid Saturday as the Beavers travel to Denison University for a 3:00 contest (107.1 FM WDOH).
Opponents are shooting just 43.4% from the field against Beavers, which ranks second in the HCAC, and so far this season BC has given up just 69.3 points per game, which is the third lowest average in the league. Bluffton also ranks third in rebounding margin (+2.9 rpg).
Last week Bluffton dropped a pair of games to see their record slip to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the HCAC. Junior Marcus Bixler continues to lead the conference in assists (5.4 apg), while senior Rod Overmyer is ranked among the top-10 in three categories, including scoring (8th, 13.6 ppg), rebounding (9th, 5.1 rpg) and steals (6th, 1.7 spg).
Adrian recap
An 11-5 run midway through the second half got Bluffton College within two points of Adrian College, but the visiting Bulldogs pulled away down the stretch to take a 77-67 win in Founders Hall Wednesday night.
Rod Overmyer scored a season high 22 points to lead Bluffton and made it a double-double with a career high 10 rebounds. Junior Derek DeNero also landed a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Mike Leimeister chipped in 10 points.
Adrian led 22-9 after 12 minutes had gone by in the game, but the Beavers battled back to trail by just three points at 27-24 with 5:50 left before halftime.
Mount St. Joseph recap
A tough full-court Mount St. Joseph defense forced 21 Bluffton turnovers, leading to a 66-55 win over the Beavers in Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon.
There were nine ties or lead changes in the first 10 minutes of the game, but Mount St. Joseph went on a 17-4 run in the final four minutes of the first half to take a 38-21 lead at the intermission.
A 12-4 run by the Beavers midway through the second half closed the gap to 10 points with 8:07 left to play, but it would be as close as BC would get.
Overmyer led Bluffton with 13 points, while DeNero scored 10 points (all coming in the second half) and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Leimeister added 11 points to be the third BC player in double figures.
Special to: The Bluffton News