Posted: Jan 20, 2010
January 20, 2010
By: Brandy Bidlack, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men used an outstanding effort at both ends of the floor en route to their first win of the 2009-10 season when the Beavers outplayed Heartland Conference and long-time rival Defiance College in a 91-83 victory over the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. With the win, the Beavers improved to 1-7 in the HCAC and 1-16 overall, while the Yellow Jackets dropped to 4-4 in the HCAC and 13-4 on the season.
Sophomore guard MYCHAL HILL (London/Jonathan Alder) sparked the Beaver offense with a trey just 41 seconds into the contest. Responding to a pair of Defiance layins, senior JOSH EICHAR (North Baltimore) hit the jumper at the 17:08 mark. Two minutes later, TYLER BRAIDIC (Pandora/Pandora-Gilboa) found an open BRENT FARLEY (Lima/Shawnee) in the lane to put the Beavers up 7-6 over the Yellow Jackets.
Bluffton remained in control for the rest of the half and at the 6:30 mark, Farley kicked it out to an open NICK LEE (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) for a trey which increased the lead to double digits (24-12). With 1:25 remaining on the clock Hill again dialed long distance, pushing the advantage to 16 points. A Lee jumper with just four ticks left gave the Beavers a surprising 18-point halftime edge, 37-19, as Bluffton's defense was phenomenal during the first 20 minutes of action.
In the second half the Bluffton offense ignited with a layup from freshman guard and the high-point man of the night, JOSH FISHER (Rockford/Parkway). With Defiance closing in on the Beavers at the 12:12 mark, junior ROB LUDERMAN (Ayersville) grabbed the offensive board and got the putback to slow the Defiance rally. Two minutes later, Fisher snatched a defensive rebound and converted the hoop and harm at the other end to put the Beavers up by 12 (58-46).
With 7:20 remaining in the game, Hill delivered it to Farley for his first dunk of the night and a 62-48 lead over the Jackets. 30 seconds later, Hill located Lee at the arc for one of his three triples. Following four straight free throws by Josh Fisher and Nick Lee, Farley collected a Bluffton miss and threw it down for his second dunk of the game to give Bluffton a commanding 20-point edge over Defiance.
At the three-minute mark, Hill drained a deep trifecta to put the Beavers up 78-58. Although Defiance converted three desperation bombs late in the game, a pair of freebies from Fisher with 17 seconds remaining capped a career-high 29-point night for the freshman who also locked up with Defiance standout point guard Mike Floyd for most of the evening. Bluffton secured its first 2009-10 victory for the men as the Beavers soundly dispatched the Yellow Jackets, 91-83.
Leading the Beavers with 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 12-of-14 at the stripe was Josh Fisher. Not far behind, Lee equaled his career-high with 24 points, four assists and three rebounds. Farley picked up his fifth career double-double with 15 points and a career-high 13 boards. Hill tallied 15 points while dishing out four dimes. Eichar pulled down eight boards, grabbed three steals and blocked a shot.
NICK SALES paced Defiance with 25 points and 13 rebounds. MIKE FLOYD added 17 points and seven assists for the Yellow Jackets, while teammate LOGAN WOLFRUM contributed 14 points for Defiance.
Bluffton went 27-of-57 (47.4 percent) from the field, while Defiance hit 29-of-66 (43.9 percent). The Beavers, who were perfect from the line for the contest with just over three minutes left, ended the game shooting 29-of-36 (80.6 percent) from the charity stripe, as well as 8-of-16 (50 percent) from behind the arc. The Yellow Jackets were 20-of-28 from line (71.4 percent) but just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) outside the arc. The Beavers pulled down only 32 boards compared to 42 by the Yellow Jackets, and both teams had 10 turnovers in the contest.
The Bluffton University men's basketball team will be back in action Saturday, January 23, when they host HCAC rival Transylvania University in Founders Hall. The Hall of Fame Day showdown between the Beavers and Pioneers is slated to start at 4 p.m. following the women's game.
-BEAVERS-