January 9, 2010
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Rose-Hulman opened the game with an 11-3 spurt en route to a 68-60 victory over the Bluftton University men's basketball team on Saturday, January 9, 2010. The Beavers slipped to 0-15 and 0-6 in the Heartland Conference while RHIT moved to 6-8 overall (2-3 HCAC).
A JORDAN POTHAST (Ottawa/Ottawa-Glandorf) jumper and BRENT FARLEY(Lima/Shawnee) free throw were the only points that a slow-starting Bluffton offense could manage during the first 5:30 of the contest. The Beavers fought back from their early 11-3 deficit as freshman JOSH FISHER (Rockford/Parkway) and TYLER NEAL (Bluffton) sandwiched deep balls around a Farley deuce and MYCHAL HILL (London/Jonathan Alder) triple to pull within two points (16-14) at the 8:15 mark.
The Engineers responded with a 15-4 run over the final six minutes of the period to take a commanding 31-18 lead at the break. Rose drained three from outside the arc while Bluffton missed six shots and turned it over three times late in the half. Bluffton's only points in the final stretch of the first half came from back-to-back Farley buckets near the two-minute mark.
Hill came out of halftime with a trifecta from senior TYLER BRAIDIC (Pandora-Gilboa), cutting the deficit to 31-21, but RHIT used a 14-6 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the game 45-27 with 12:53 to play. Still down 47-29 with just under 12 minutes on the clock, the Beavers clawed back into striking distance (47-38) on the strength of five Hill points and hoops by Tyler Neal and Brent Farley.
Farley and Fisher combined to score 18 of Bluffton's 20 points during the final six minutes of the contest, but Rose countered with 12 makes at the charity stripe to walk away with the 68-60 victory over the Beavers.
Brent Farley matched his career-high with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and his nine boards left him just one shy of a fifth career double-double. He also blocked three shots in the contest. Mychal Hill dropped in 18 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Josh Fisher equaled his career-high with 13 points. He picked up three steals while making 6-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-5 on two-pointers. Senior guard JOSH EICHAR (North Baltimore) pulled down five rebounds for the visitors.
The Beavers hit 24-of-53 (45.3 percent) from the field, compared to 21-of-45 (46.7 percent) for the Engineers. Rose made three more triples than Bluffton (7-4), but the charity stripe proved to be the difference as Rose finished 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) compared to 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) for Bluffton. The home team won the rebounding battle (32-26), while the Engineers turned it over four more times than Bluffton (16-12). JEFF MCCARTNEY led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 5-for-8 from distance.
Bluffton returns to action on Wednesday, January 13, 2010, when the Beavers travel to Manchester College. The contest with the Spartans is slated for 7:30 p.m. in North Manchester, Indiana.
-BEAVERS-