November 24, 2007
TIFFIN, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Heidelberg College squad and fell to the Student Princes by a final count of 96-76 on Saturday, November 24, 2007. The Beavers dropped to 2-2 on the year while Heidelberg stayed perfect at 3-0 following the lopsided victory.
Senior P.J. JUENGER (Loveland/Archbishop Moeller) answered ANDREW LEMMON'S early three-pointer with a triple of his own on Bluffton's first possession, but Lemmon followed with three consecutive bombs from downtown as Heidelberg bolted to a 14-7 lead just over three minutes into the game.
Sophomore ZACK KRAUS (Findlay/Findlay) cut the deficit to five points before Lemmon dropped in a two-pointer and SHAWN SHRIVER, who went over the 1,000 point plateau late in the contest, buried his only three-pointer of the night.
Lemmon followed MATT EBERLE'S triple with his fifth and final trifecta of the game midway through the opening half, pushing Heidelberg's lead to 22 points, 40-18.
The Beavers finally slowed Heidelberg thanks to seven NATE OVERMYER (Haviland/Wayne Trace) points, a NICK WILSON (Continental/Continental) three-pointer and an AARON TAYLOR (Antwerp/Antwerp) basket as Bluffton trimmed the deficit to 14 points, 46-32, at the 3:50 mark of the opening half.
The Student Princes closed the half with a 12-5 run to take a commanding 58-37 lead over the Beavers at the break.
A COLT CUNNINGHAM (Powell/Worthington Christian) bucket coupled with a pair of Kraus layups made the score 64-47 with 15:31 to play, but the home team continued to hit from outside as Eberle and JAKE HESSEY knocked down long-range jumpers to push the Heidelberg lead back to 24 points with 9:19 on the clock.
Juenger hit back-to-back shots and freshman ROB LUDERMAN (Defiance/Ayersville) followed with an old-fashioned three-point play to again cut the Heidelberg lead to 17 points.
Freshman BEN SHINDELDECKER (Ohio City/Crestview) and sophomore CHRIS SINGLETON(Ada/Ada) combined for five points down the stretch and DREW CLADY (New Bavaria/Holgate) got to the glass with 33 seconds remaining, but Heidelberg held on for a 96-76 victory over the Beavers.
Overmyer led the Beavers with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 2-for-5 from behind the arc. Junior JUSTIN RUFENACHT (Wauseon/Pettisville) chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds. He was 5-of-6 from the field. Juenger just missed his second straight double-double, scoring nine points and ripping down a team-high eight boards. Taylor and Wilson added eight and seven points, respectively.
Bluffton hit over 50 percent from the field (29-of-57) and pulled down six more rebounds (35-29) than the Student Princes, but the Beavers could not overcome their 18 turnovers and Heidelberg's 13-of-28 shooting clinic from three-point land (46.4 percent). The home team buried 11-of-20 triples in the opening stanza.
Andrew Lemmon paced Heidelberg with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, including 5-for-8 from long distance. Eberle hit for 15 points and Shriver scored career point 1,000 with 4:54 to play in the game.
The Beavers return to action on Wednesday, November 28, when they host Hiram College. The contest is the second of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader in Founders Hall and it is slated to tip at approximately 8 p.m.
-BEAVERS-