Sports Information Staff Report
January 18, 2005
The Bluffton University men's basketball team (8-7, 1-3 HCAC) dropped two close Heartland Conference contests and defeated non-conference opponent Marygrove College in action last week. The Beavers lost to Franklin College 86-71 in overtime and fell to Transylvania University 80-75. On Jan. 17 the Beavers easily defeated Marygrove College 101-71 in Founders Hall. This week the team will be back in action on Jan. 19 when they travel to Mount St. Joseph (7:30 p.m. start) and will be back at Founders Hall on Jan. 22 when they host Anderson University (3 p.m. start).
Franklin College 86, Bluffton University 71 in overtime
The Bluffton University men's basketball team (7-6, 1-2 HCAC) was defeated 86-71 by Franklin College (10-4, 2-1 HCAC) in overtime on Jan. 12.
The first half of the game went primarily in Franklin's direction as they owned an 11 point lead at the half, 42-31. The Beavers then found themselves down by 17 points with twelve minutes left in the ball game only to jump start a comeback that would give them the lead 69-65 with 25 seconds left (two Michael Anthony free throws). Franklin came right back to score with 18 seconds left to pull within two, 69-67. Five seconds later Scott Bergman found himself at the free throw line only to miss both shots and give the Grizzlies one last chance. Franklin's Alan Davidson hit a quick jumper with five seconds left to tie the game at 69 all to send it into overtime.
The Grizzlies capitalized in overtime as they went on a 13-0 run in the first four minutes. Bluffton's only two points in the overtime period came from two Bergman free throws. The final at the buzzer was Franklin 86, Bluffton 71.
Junior Scott Bergman (Elmore/Woodmore) led all scorers in the contest with 27 points. Sophomore Michael Anthony (Ohio City/Delphos St. John's) threw in 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior Eric Sweet (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) posted his second career double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks for the game.
Transylvania University 80, Bluffton University 75
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team (7-7, 1-3 HCAC) was defeated 80-75 by Transylvania University (12-2, 4-0 HCAC) on Jan. 15.
Junior Scott Bergman (Elmore/Woodmore) had a career afternoon, tying the Bluffton single-game free throw percentage record as he shot 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Bergman also scored a career high 30 points while adding five rebounds (team-high) and two assists. Junior Eric Sweet (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) posted 13 points, four rebounds and three steals in the game.
Transylvania led by as many as 16 points in the first half before Bluffton would close the gap late in the period. A Bergman three pointer would start the Beavers run as buckets by Nathan Chivington (Trenton/Miami East), P.J. Juenger (Loveland/Archbishop Moeller) and Darren Clark (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) would squeeze the Pioneer lead to seven points at halftime (Transylvania 38, Bluffton 31). Transylvania started out the second period strong as they propelled their lead to 15 points. Key shots and a good defensive effort by the Beavers would bring them back to within two points with four minutes left in the contest. The contest remained close for the rest of the half as Bluffton would have to use five fouls in the final minute to stop the clock. The Pioneers then connected on nine free throws in the last minute to take the contest, 80-75.
Bluffton University 101, Marygrove College 71
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team (8-7) defeated Marygrove College (4-14) 101-71 on Jan. 17. The 101 points scored were the most points by the men's team since Feb. 13, 2002, when the team tallied 106 points against Defiance College.
Leading Bluffton on the night was junior Eric Sweet (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Junior Scott Bergman (Elmore/Woodmore) added 13 points and a team-high three steals and five assists. Sophomore David Patch (Minster/Minster) rounded out double digit scoring for the Beavers with 12 points. Sophomore Tom Heil (Stow/Archbishop Hoban) scored five points and dished out five assists.
Marygrove tied the contest twice very early on until the Beavers started controlling the floor. Leading by as many as 18 points Bluffton would take a 14 point lead into halftime (46-32). The second half would see much of the same Beaver dominance as they would push their lead to as many as 34 points until finally taking the contest 101-71. Bluffton would see over half of their total points (58) come from players off the bench, as all 15 men on the roster would score in the game. The Beavers shot 63 percent (42-of-66) from the field on the evening compared to Marygrove's (26-of-63) 41 shooting percentage. Bluffton led on the boards with 37 rebounds compared to the Mustangs 33.
Leading the Beavers on the season
HCAC team statistics
As a team the Beavers currently rank 6th in total field goal percentage at .444 (335-of-754) and 4th in 3-point field goal percentage at .366 (83-of-227). Bluffton ranks second in assists (205), third in steals (118) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.07) and turnover margin as they have forced opponents to 1.64 more turnovers a game.
Individual statistical leaders
Scott Bergman currently leads both Bluffton and the Heartland Conference in scoring as he averages 20.5 points per game (307 total points). To date he also leads the Beavers and HCAC in 3-pointers made with 41 for the season. Bergman also posts a team-high 29 steals which is good enough for second in the league and ranks 13th in the HCAC in rebounding with 75 boards. Eric Sweet continues to rank second on the team in scoring with a 12.0 points per game average (15th in HCAC). He owns a field goal percentage of .586 (65-of-111) to lead the Beavers and place fifth in the conference. Sweet leads the Beavers in rebounding with 80 pull downs (28 offensive, 52 defensive) which is good enough for 12th in the Heartland Conference and 26 blocks (second in HCAC).
Michael Anthony rounds off the players in double figures with an 11.2 points per game average (third on team, 17th in HCAC). He posts a .854 free throw percentage (41-of-48) to lead the team and rank third in the conference. Eric Schwieterman leads Bluffton with 43 assists which is good for ninth in the HCAC.