December 29, 2001
Consolation game of the Fourth Annual McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament

Bluffton College scored the final seven points of the game to take an 85-82 victory over Millikin University Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the Fourth Annual McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament.

The Beavers set a tournament record by shooting 88.5% (23-26) from the free throw line in the game and were led by senior Rod Overmyer, who poured in 28 points and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team.

Overmyer canned four 3-pointers and was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line. Junior Mike Leimeister set a tourney record with an 8-8 performance at the charity stripe and ended the game with 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Bluffton took a seven point lead with 5:43 left in the first half at 33-26, but it would be their largest lead of the game as Millikin fought back to take a 47-41 lead at halftime.

There were 16 ties or lead changes in the second half, and a 6-0 scoring run by Millikin late in the game gave the Big Blue an 82-78 lead with 1:20 remaining. Junior Derek DeNero buried a trey with 1:05 left to play, and Leimeister added a layup and two foul shots to take the lead and cement the win.

Junior Marcus Bixler scored 12 points and collected six assists and six rebounds, while senior Kevin Grey added 11 points and five boards.

Millikin's Kin Yanders scored 32 points on 14 of 18 shooting. He grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and set a tournament record with six steals as he was also named to the all-tournament team.