Less than two minutes into the game, junior Brent Farley (Lima/Shawnee) sparked the Bluffton offense with a jumper. At the 16:53 mark Farley found senior Rob Luderman (Ayersville), giving the Beavers the slight edge, 4-2. After several minutes of intense action, two Farley layins generated a four-point advantage (12-8) for Bluffton.

 

However, the Cardinals took control for much of the first half until the Beavers cut the deficit to just one. With four seconds remaining, junior guard Nick Lee (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) added two counters to the scoreboard, giving Bluffton the one-point halftime edge, 27-26.

 

Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) converted a layup to start the second half, but the North Central offense ignited as the Cardinals remained in control over the next 10 minutes. At the 8:45 mark, junior Mychal Hill (London/Jonathan Alder) connected with Dustin Kinn (Alvada/New Riegel) to bring the Beavers within one. Freshman post Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee) knocked down a jumper, giving Bluffton the lead with just under eight minutes left in the game.

 

At the 2:32 minute mark, Hill sank a trey to increase the Bluffton lead to six. The Beavers followed suit, going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe before a dunk from Pope led to Bluffton's biggest advantage, 61-52, of the night. Four North Central free throws with time expiring reduced the deficit, but Bluffton came out on top, 61-56, over the host team.

 

Leading the way in the scoring column for Bluffton was big man Will Pope with 14 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor. Both Pope and Brent Farley snatched seven boards apiece while Farley added nine points and one block. Junior guards Mychal Hill and Nick Lee tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively, with teammate Josh Fisher picking up two steals in the contest.

 

The Cardinals received a balanced scoring attack with two players in double digits, Landon Gamble with 12 and Derek Raridon with 10. Brian Evans pulled down a game-high 11 boards for North Central. The Beavers outshot the Cardinals, making 20-of-47 attempts from the field for 42.6 percent. The Cardinals hit 23-of-63 attempts for 37.1 percent. North Central proved more efficient with the ball, only turning it over 12 times while forcing 17 miscues by Bluffton.

 

The Beavers will be back in action on Saturday, November 20, when they play Valley City State College in the championship contest of the North Central College Tip-Off. The game is slated for 7:30 p.m.