Posted: Jan 27, 2010
January 27, 2010
By: Josh Bruner, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men held a slim 40-38 lead at the half, but the Beavers outscored the Lions 37-25 in the final period to ensure their second Heartland Conference victory in three games, 77-63, over the College of Mount St. Joseph on Wednesday, January 27, 2010. The Beavers improved to 2-17 overall and 2-8 in the HCAC, while the Lions slid to 8-10 overall with a 3-7 mark in the HCAC.
Senior JOSH EICHAR (North Baltimore) led the home team out of the gates with a jumper to start the scoring. The Lions quickly responded with two points of their own from KYLE MCCORD. The Beavers took an early lead as they made a run to go up by 10 following a JOSH FISHER (Rockford/Parkway) steal and layup with 13:02 left in the first.
The Lions finally ended their dry spell with an AARON BARBER jumper. The Beavers continued to hold serve with a ROB LUDERMAN layup, as the Beavers led 20-10 at the 11:44 mark. The Beavers opened their largest lead of the game (14) thanks to another Fisher layup with nine minutes remaining in the half.
The Lions began to pick away at the lead, cutting the margin to six points with 3:52 left in the half. The Beavers answered with a NICK LEE (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) three-pointer to push the lead back to nine with 3:21 left in the period. The Lions finished the first stanza with a 6-2 spurt which made the score 40-38 Bluffton at the break after an uncontested drive to the hoop by Travis Huffman with four ticks remaining.
The Lions opened the half with a quick two points to tie the game. However, the Beavers did not wilt and they followed with eight straight for a 48-40 lead over the visitors after a BRENT FARLEY (Lima/Shawnee) layup at the 16:28 mark.
The teams continued to trade points over the next five minutes as BRIAN ROMES added a layup followed by two JORDAN BROWN free throws to bring the Lions within four. The Beavers opened a 59-49 advantage with two consecutive threes, one from TYLER BRAIDIC(Pandora-Gilboa) and another from MYCHAL HILL (London/Jon. Alder), with just under 10 minutes to play.
The Lions struggled to formulate an answer to the Beaver offense as Bluffton put the contest out of reach with an 8-2 jag, giving the Beavers their largest lead of the game (16) thanks to another Farley conversion with 5:12 left.
The teams traded scores through the last three minutes as the Beavers stayed strong with the ball, not committing any turnovers, and Hill sealed the 77-63 victory by scoring the last eight points for Bluffton.
Leading Bluffton in the offensive column was Hill with 27 points, draining 4-of-9 from behind the arc. Fisher followed with 18, going 3-of-5 from distance. Farley chipped in with 14 markers, eight boards and a career-high five monstrous blocks. Finishing off the top scorers for Bluffton was Lee who added nine. The Beavers were outstanding from the field, knocking down 27-of-51 shots (52.9 percent), including 9-of-20 from three-point territory (45 percent) and 14-for-19 (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Lions were led by TRAVIS HUFFMAN who put up 17 points. McCord added 12 and JACOB FAUST tallied 10. The Lions finished the game shooting 24-of-53 (45.3 percent) from the field, 4-of-10 (40.0 percent) from behind the arc and 11-for-16 (68.8 percent) at the line. Both teams pulled down 29 caroms and the Mount turned it over three more times than the Beavers (15-12).
The Beavers will be back in action Saturday, January 30, when they travel to Franklin College. The HCAC contest is slated to start at 3 p.m.
-BEAVERS-