February 10, 2007
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Bluffton University men's basketball team saw its four-game winning streak snapped by Transylvania, 75-65, on Saturday, February 10, 2007. The Pioneers thrust themselves back into the hunt for one of the four berths in the Heartland Conference tournament as they improved to 15-8, 8-6 in the HCAC. With the loss to Transy, the Beavers find themselves in a three-way tie for the top spot in the conference as they are now17-6, 9-5 HCAC. Bluffton is currently tied with Defiance and Franklin while the Pioneers, Mount St. Joseph and Hanover are deadlocked in fourth place at 8-6.
A pair of MIKE ANTHONY (Ohio City/Delphos St. John's) hoops and an ERIC SCHWIETERMAN (St. Henry/St. Henry) layup had the Beavers within a point, 7-6, less than five minutes into the game before JOEY VERAX capped a 7-0 Pioneer run which put the Pioneers on top, 14-6, at the 12:32 mark.
Anthony found the hoop and NICK WILSON (Continental/Continental) scored his only five points of the game to cut the Pioneer lead to four, 20-16 with just under eight minutes to play in the first half.
TIM TIERNEY gave Transy a 13-point lead at the three-minute mark as the Beavers struggled to take care of the ball.
When Anthony found the range with 32 seconds remaining, Bluffton found itself down by nine, only to have three JOEY SEARLE free throws give the Pioneers a 12-point lead at the half.
Eric Schwieterman followed an Anthony chip shot with a triple from downtown to trim the deficit to eight points early in the second half, but the Pioneers used a 12-3 run over the next three minutes to take a 54-37 lead with 15:10 to play in the game.
The Pioneers took their largest lead of the game, 60-41, following a Tierney stickback midway through the second stanza.
Freshman ZACK KRAUS (Findlay/Findlay) tried to single-handedly revive the Beavers, finding an open JOSIAH STOBER (Spencerville/Spencerville) for a layin and then dropping in seven consecutive points to close the gap to 12 points with just over eight minutes to play.
A free throw by SAM SEGGERSON (Columbus/St. Francis DeSales) and a CHRIS SINGLETON (Ada/Ada) bucket made the final score 75-65 in favor of the host Transylvania Pioneers.
Both teams shot reasonably well from the field with the Pioneers slightly better, 49.1 to 48.8 percent for the game. Bluffton held a 32-24 advantage on the boards, but turnovers proved to be the difference in the game as Bluffton made an uncharacteristic 21 miscues to only nine for Transy.
Mike Anthony led Bluffton with 17 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Eric Schwieterman was the only other Beaver in double digits with 12 points. He also ripped down six boards in the loss.
Five Transylvania players ended the night in double figures, with NICK FEAGAN and Joey Searle leading the way with 17 and 16 points, respectively. GARY MOUSER, AARON CASH and JOEY VERAX all chipped in with 12 points.
The Beavers return to Founders Hall on Wednesday, February 14, 2007, to face the College of Mount St. Joseph. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
-BEAVERS-