By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
November 25, 2008
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team jumped on top early and never looked back against Trine University as the Beavers dominated the Thunder, 88-52, on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. Bluffton improved to 2-1 while the Thunder fell to 2-1.
Bluffton center JOSIAH STOBER (Spencerville) sparked the Beavers' offense with a jumper at the 19:21 minute mark. On the next play, AARON TAYLOR (Antwerp) came up with a steal and he hit JOSH EICHAR (North Baltimore) who got the ball right back to Taylor for his first of consecutive triples. Just before the 16-minute mark JUSTIN RUFENACHT(Wauseon/Pettisville) added a layup following his offensive rebound, giving the Beavers a quick seven-point edge, 10-3.
The Beavers continued their offensive jag with two treys from Eichar as well as a smooth jumper from senior NICK WILSON (Continental). With nine minutes left in the first half, Stober added a putback which made the score 26-10. Senior sharpshooter COLT CUNNINGHAM(Powell/Worthington Christian) got into the action with a layup and a basket from behind the arc, increasing the Beavers' lead to 31-12. Another Stober layup and two freebies from freshman guard NICK LEE (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) gave the Beavers a commanding 41-20 lead at the break.
Rufenacht opened the second stanza with a layup before three-pointers by both Stober and Cunningham increased the margin to 51-28. At the 14:30 minute mark, freshman guardCLAYTON LEIMEISTER (Lima/Temple Christian) went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Taylor continued the assault with a pair of hoops and with less than eight minutes to play, Stober sank another trey to increase the Beavers' lead to 25 points (67-42).
Following a wide-open Leimeister trifecta, freshman MYCHAL HILL (London/Jonathan Alder) canned a trey. CAM SAYLOR (Belle Center/Benjamin Logan) continued the three-point streak with one of his own which made the score 81-52 in favor of the home squad.
Junior CHRIS SINGLETON (Wapakoneta/Ada) put down his first dunk of the season after slicing along the left baseline at the 1:13 mark. With seconds ticking down on the clock, junior TYLER BRAIDIC (Pandora-Gilboa) drilled a jumper and Singleton added two more points on a layup that finished the scoring in Bluffton's 88-52 win over previously undefeated Trine University.
Josiah Stober paced the Beavers with 16 points, including two three-pointers, and four assists, as well as four boards. Aaron Taylor added 14 points, three assists, one steal and he swatted away one shot. Colt Cunningham chipped in with ten points, two assists, one rebound, and one steal. Josh Eichar finished with eight points, three boards, two assists and two steals in the contest. Junior JORDAN POTHAST (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) had two blocks and two assists in the victory.
ANDRE PATRICK led the Thunder with 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals. RANDALL HARRIS added 10 points and teammate CHRIS MISLIN tallied nine points, three rebounds and one assist in the loss.
All 15 players once again saw action in the win as Bluffton shot 28-of-57 (49.1 percent) from the field, including a solid 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from distance. The Beavers hit 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe, compared to 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) for the Thunder. Trine committed 16 turnovers in the contest while Bluffton took care of the ball to the tune of just eight miscues.
The Bluffton men return to action on Wednesday, November 26, when the Beavers host Kalamazoo College. The contest is slated to start at 7 p.m. in Founders Hall.