By Molly Burnell, sports information assistant
January 18, 2006
BLUFFTON, Ohio -The Bluffton University men's basketball team dropped their second consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest to Mount St. Joseph by a final score of 105-93 on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 in Founder's Hall. The loss marks the first home defeat for the Beavers since November 29, 2005 when Concordia slipped by Bluffton 63-62. With the loss the Beavers fall to 13-3 on the season and 3-2 in the HCAC. Bluffton is tied for second place in the Heartland Conference with Franklin, Hanover and Mount St. Joseph who moved to 10-6 and 3-2 with the victory.
A Mount St. Joseph layup by DERRICK JONES and Bluffton layin by senior ERIC SWEET(Ottawa/Ottawa Glandorf) started the scoring off for both teams and knotted the game at two. Junior MICHAEL ANTHONY (Ohio City/Delphos St. Johns) nailed two free throws and Sweet followed with two of his own to give the Beavers their only lead of the game (12-10) with 15:35 to play. The Lions drained two three-pointers in less than a minute to take a four-point advantage with under 15 minutes to play. Anthony found the hoop to cut the MSJ lead to two points before Bluffton went on a two-minute scoring drought. Junior TOM HEIL(Stow/Archbishop Hoban) ended the Mount run when he connected on a triple to pull the Beavers to within six points. RICKY REUCHER (Toledo/Central Catholic) nailed a three-pointer and Sweet and Anthony both got to the rack to bring Bluffton to within one point at the 10:19 mark. That was as close as the Beavers would get in the opening stanza as the Lions took a five-point halftime advantage, 53-48.
SCOTT BERGMAN (Elmore/Woodmore) started out the second half scoring for Bluffton when he connected on a free throw. Anthony followed with a bucket to cut the Lions' lead to four points. Key shots by Mount St. Joseph and missed opportunities by the Beavers kept MSJ on top as a ROBBIE NOSCHANG triple gave the visitors a nine-point lead with 15:53 to play. Bluffton battled back as junior DAVID PATCH (Minster/Minster) connected on a trifecta, junior ERIC SCHWIETERMAN (St. Henry/St. Henry) hit two jumpers and Sweet added a layup to bring the Beavers to within three points at the 12:50 mark of the second stanza. Bluffton was whistled for six fouls over the next nine minutes as the Lions connected on 10 shots from the charity stripe to take a 15-point lead 93-78 with just under five minutes remaining. Anthony hit two foul shots and Sweet connected on a layup as the clock wound down to bring Bluffton to within 10 points. A MARCUS SMITH layup and two free throws from Noschang gave the Mount its final victory margin of 12.
Sweet led the Beavers on the evening with 26 points and 12 rebounds to record his ninth career double-double. The senior also added two blocks and three steals. Anthony also posted a double-double in the contest as he scored 20 points, including 6-6 from the free throw line, and pulled down 12 boards. Although the Mount defense held him to four points in the first half, Bergman ended the game with 16 and led the team with five assists. Schwieterman added 13 points and three steals for the Beavers.
For the contest Bluffton shot 47 percent from the field, compared to the Lions' 54 percent. The Mount connected on 11-21 first half three-pointers (52 percent) and finished with 15 for the game. The Beavers pulled down 36 rebounds while MSJ managed 32 boards. Both teams committed 11 turnovers in the contest and Bluffton recorded seven steals.
Bluffton will return to action on Saturday, January 21, 2006 when it travels to Anderson University for an HCAC contest. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.