November 20, 2007
By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team rose to the Lakers' challenge and won the first home game of the season. The Beavers upped their mark to 2-1 on the season following an 89-70 win over Wright State-Lake Campus on Tuesday, November 20, 2007.
Five points from NICK WILSON (Continental/Continental) along with two buckets by senior P.J. JUENGER (Loveland/Archbishop Moeller) gave the Beavers an early 9-0 advantage less than two minutes into the game. The Lakers responded with a layup, but Wilson found the hole, putting up a chip shot himself to make the score 11-2 after three minutes of action.
The score remained unchanged for the next minute as Bluffton's shots were off the mark and rebounds were pulled down. Eight minutes into the game, the advantage began to teeter from one team to the other, each basket and rebound desperately needed.
A pair of AARON TAYLOR (Antwerp/Antwerp Local) free throws gave the Beavers a one-point lead until the Lakers responded with two DANIEL BRINCEFIELD freebies. Wright State-Lake kept the lead until the six-minute mark when two Wilson free throws evened up the score at 28.
Following a ZACK KRAUS (Findlay/Findlay) layup at the 5:19 mark, the Bluffton offense pulled ahead and continued to keep the lead throughout the remainder of the half. Freshman JOEL MILLER (Sugarcreek/Berlin Hiland) put up the last two points of the opening stanza as Bluffton went to the break with a lead of 40-35 over Wright State-Lake.
P.J. Juenger opened the second half with a jumper, and the Beavers never looked back as they dominated the rest of the game. Wright State-Lake turnovers and fouls aided in the escalating Bluffton advantage.
Late in the contest, the Lakers started to chip away at the lead thanks to missed Bluffton shots, fouls, and turnovers as Wright State crept closer on the scoreboard. Bluffton retook control with a lead of 15 points at the 8:41 mark following two made free throws from Zack Kraus.
BEN SHINDELDECKER (Ohio City/Crestview) stole the ball with 4:20 left to play and made his three-point shot, increasing the Bluffton lead to 84-63. A block by sophomore CHRIS SINGLETON (Ada/Ada) denied Wright State-Lake the chance to score at the four-minute mark and DREW CLADY (New Bavaria/Holgate) pulled down the rebound, was fouled and buried both of his attempts from the stripe.
Wright State-Lake's Daniel Brincefield made all three of his free throws with twenty three seconds left in the game, but Bluffton proved to be too strong as the Beavers picked up an 89-70 victory over the Lakers.
Wilson bucketed a career-high 26 points in 27 minutes of action on 10-15 shooting from the field, including two three-pointers and 4-of-5 free throws. He also added six boards for the night, but it was P.J. Juenger who snatched the most rebounds with a total of 10 to go along with 12 points for his first double-double as a Beaver. Both Juenger and Singleton had one block and Chris Singleton added four assists for the victors.
Posting career nights for the Lakers were BROOKS TOPP, who slashed his way to the hoop for 20 points, and TRAVIS VANSKYOCK, who drained 11-of-17 from the field, including 4-for-9 from outside the arc, on his way to a game-high 32 points.
The Beavers pulled down 47 rebounds, compared to 35 for the Lakers. A 31-of-73 shooting night by Bluffton and 21 Wright State-Lake turnovers were more than enough for the Beavers to knock off the Lakers. Bluffton hit 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) at the free throw line while Wright State-Lake converted on 20-of-28 foul shots for 71.4 percent.
The Beavers will travel to Heidelberg College on Saturday, November 24, to face the Student Princes. The contest is slated to start at 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-