By Molly Burnell, sports information assistant
December 7, 2005
The Bluffton University men's basketball team (4-1) defeated Hiram College 88-75 on Wednesday, December 7, 2005 in Founders Hall. Five Beaver players drained three-pointers in the win as Bluffton sank 14 treys as a team. Senior SCOTT BERGMAN (Elmore/Woodmore) tallied 23 points while junior MICHAEL ANTHONY (Ohio City/Delphos St. Johns) poured in 20 points on the evening.
Hiram broke into the scoring column when TC SPENCER hit a layup to put the Terriers on the board less than a minute into the game. Anthony responded quickly with a layup of his own to knot the game at two points. Senior ERIC SWEET (Ottawa/Ottawa Glandorf) dropped in two foul shots for Bluffton as the Beavers took the lead at the 18-minute mark of the first half. Bluffton continued to dominate throughout the first half and led by as many as 13 points. As a team, the Beavers knocked down seven treys in the first half and connected on three-of-four at the free throw line. Keen shooting and solid defense kept Bluffton in control of the contest as the Beavers took a 48-38 lead into halftime.
Bluffton started the second half with two Bergman 3-pointers as it opened a 12-point cushion at the 17-minute mark. Anthony connected on a layup and drilled a three-pointer to extend the Beaver advantage to 14 points. Consecutive treys by freshman COLT CUNNINGHAM(Powell/Worthington Christian), two triples by Bergman and a layup by Sweet pushed the Bluffton lead to 15 with five minutes to play. The Beavers dominated the rest of the contest and took the victory by a final score of 88-75.
On the evening, Bluffton connected on 14-of-30 three-pointers, five by Bergman, four by Cunningham, two each by Anthony and DAVID PATCH (Minster/Minster), and one by ERIC SCHWIETERMAN (St. Henry/St. Henry). The Beavers shot 55 percent from the field (31-56) compared to the Terriers 53 percent (31-59). Bluffton pulled down 26 rebounds while Hiram grabbed 27 boards.
Senior Scott Bergman led the Beavers with 23 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high eight assists. Michael Anthony contributed 20 points and pulled down four boards. Eric Sweet finished with fifteen points and eight blocks for the contest. Colt Cunningham scored a career-high 12 points on four treys in fifteen minutes of action. Schwieterman tied his career-high with eight points and also recorded five assists and four steals.
Bluffton will be back in action on Saturday, December 10 when they travel to Denison University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.