November 20, 2010

NAPERVILLE, Illinois - The Bluffton University men's basketball team placed four players in double digits during its 87-72 win over Valley City State College in the Holiday Inn Select Tip-Off Tournament championship at North Central College on Saturday, November 20, 2010. The Beavers needed just one weekend to equal their victory total from a year ago as Bluffton stands 2-0 following their Tip-Off title at North Central. Valley City State, a Division II NAIA school from Valley City, North Dakota, dipped to 3-5 after going 20-10 and winning the Dakota Athletic Conference a year ago.

Bluffton fell behind 11-3 at the 13:24 mark before junior captain Mychal Hill (Plain City/Jonathan Alder) buried a trey to cut the deficit to five. Three points from freshman Dustin Kinn (Alvada/New Riegel) and a Tyler Neal (Bluffton) triple made it a one-point game three minutes later.

Valley City State pushed the margin back to six, but four points from Kinn and a deep ball by Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) made the score 23-21 with five minutes to play in the opening half. Hill and Nate Heckelman (Norwalk) both converted a pair of freebies to trim the deficit to a point and following a Valley City deuce, Hill and Kinn added chip shots for a 29-28 Bluffton lead with less than two minutes to play in the period.

Following a Kinn hoop and harm, the Vikings tallied four points to end the half with a slim 34-32 lead over the Beavers. 24 points off the bench in the first 20 minutes kept Bluffton in the game as the Beavers scored 12 second chance points and 11 points off turnovers.

Valley City pushed their advantage to seven early in the second stanza, but the Beavers did not wilt under pressure as Bluffton used a 20-7 run to take the 52-46 lead at the 13:02 mark. The Beavers drained four treys during the spurt, including two by junior guard Nick Lee (Vanlue/Vanlue).

The Bluffton lead hovered between two and six points until an old-fashioned three-point play by freshman Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee) made the score 70-61 at the five-minute mark. Six Brent Farley (Lima/Shawnee) markers pushed the lead to 15 (80-65) with 2:41 to play as the Beavers put the game on ice. Hill and Fisher went 6-of-6 at the stripe down the stretch to secure Bluffton's 87-72 win over the Vikings.

Nine Beavers made their way into the scoring column, led by Mychal Hill who hit 12-of-14 at the line en route to 20 points. Brent Farley, who was named the Holiday Inn Tournament Most Valuable Player, finished with 18 points and 14 boards for his sixth career double-double. He hit 5-of-10 from the field and 8-of-11 at the line while dishing out two assists. Fisher tallied 15 points on 3-of-9 shooting from outside the arc and Dustin Kinn added 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 night from the field. Will Pope, who just missed his first double-double with eight points and nine rebounds, and Mychal Hill were also selected to the All-Tournament Team.

The Beavers hit 23-of-60 from the field for 38.3 percent, including 8-of-20 (40 percent) from distance. Bluffton had a marked advantage at the foul line, converting on 33-of-43 attempts (76.7 percent), compared to 17-of-20 for the Vikings. The Beavers wiped the glass to the tune of a 50-29 white-washing on the boards, but they turned it over five more times (12-7) than their opponent.

Bluffton returns to action on Wednesday, November 24, when they travel to Hiram College. The matchup with the Terriers is slated for 6 p.m.

-BEAVERS-