By: Molly Burnell, sports information assistant
December 21, 2005
The Bluffton University men's basketball team (7-1) defeated the Notre Dame College Falcons 78-66 in Founders Hall on Wednesday, December 21, 2005. With the win, the Beavers move to 7-1 on the season and that mark now stands alone as the best eight-game start in Bluffton University men's basketball history. The previous best was held by the 1965-1966 squad which opened its season with a record of 6-2.
The Beavers started slowly as the Falcons took a 5-0 lead early in the contest. Two SCOTT BERGMAN (Elmore/Woodmore) free throws finally broke the ice and put Bluffton on the score board at the 16:17 mark. Tight defense by both teams kept the Falcons in control until ERIC SWEET (Ottawa/Ottawa Glandorf) knocked down a 17-foot jumper and gave the Beavers the lead 6-5. Bluffton and Notre Dame both continued to work hard on the defensive end and connect on key shots. The Beavers held an eight-point advantage with less than a minute to play in the opening stanza when freshman COLT CUNNINGHAM (Powell/Worthington Christian) drained a three-pointer to push the Bluffton lead to 11 points (35-24) just before halftime.
The Beavers jumped out to an 18-point lead at the 16-minute mark as Sweet, Bergman, and MICHAEL ANTHONY (Ohio City/Delphos St. Johns) combined for seven points before the Falcons found the basket. Notre Dame battled back and cut the Bluffton lead to eight points when KENNY BURKES connected on a jumper midway through the second half. Over the next six minutes the Beavers scored nine points, including another Cunningham three-pointer and four points from junior RICKY REUCHER (Toledo/Central Catholic). During the last two minutes of action the Falcons connected on five shots from beyond the arc while sending Bluffton to the charity stripe 12 times. Senior JOE DUZAN (Dublin/Dublin Scioto) connected on 5-8 from the line and junior TOM HEIL (Stow/Archbishop Hoban) nailed all four of his attempts to help Bluffton improve to 7-1 on the season.
Leading Bluffton on the evening was freshman Colt Cunningham who scored a career-high 17 points, including 5-5 from downtown. Bergman finished the night with 13 points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists. Sweet recorded his eighth career double-double as he contributed ten points and pulled down a team-high ten rebounds. Tom Heil was the other Beaver with double digits as he scored a career-high ten points in the contest. Anthony added nine points, five boards and three assists.
Bluffton will return to action on Thursday, December 29 when it hosts Indiana University East in the nightcap of the eighth annual McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.