November 17, 2015
By: Ryan Schadewald, sports information assistant
Bluffton, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team cruised to an 85-47 season-opening victory over the Ohio State-Lima Barons on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The Beavers begin the campaign 1-0, while the Barons fell to 0-4.
Bluffton held the lead from the start, scoring the game's first eight markers, including six straight from freshman Jared Wentling (Carey). After an OSU-Lima triple, Billy Taflinger (Lima/Central Catholic) put up five of the game's next seven points to give the Beavers a commanding 15-3 advantage at the 13:33 mark. The Barons trimmed the deficit to 15-10, but Bluffton put its foot on the gas and never looked back. The Beavers outscored the visitors 31-9 the remainder of the half, opening up a 46-19 spread as the teams headed to the locker room.
The Beaver starters pushed the lead as high as 34 points early in the second stanza when Wentling's tip-in gave the home team a 61-27 cushion at the 14:37 mark. OSU-Lima pulled within 29 before a 9-1 spurt, including four straight from Adam Hopkins (Wellington/Keystone), made the score 72-35 at the 7:52 mark. The home team saw the lead mushroom as high as 41 points on a bucket by AUSTIN Buchholz (Holgate) with 1:40 remaining.
The Beavers shot well from the floor on opening night, hitting 58 percent (34-of-59), including 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from beyond the arc. The Barons shot just 32 percent (16-of-50) from the floor and 16.7 percent (4-of-24) from deep. The home team outrebounded OSU-Lima, 36-29, in the victory. Bluffton finished the game with 17 turnovers, while the visitors turned it over 23 times.
Bluffton saw all five starters hit for double figures in the opener. Senior Billy Taflinger had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting while grabbing four boards and handing out three assists. Junior Austin Rohde (Shelby) finished with 13 tallies on 5-of-7 from the floor (3-of-5 on triples) and five steals, while freshman Jared Wentling capped off his debut with 13 markers, on 6-of-9 shooting, four boards, four assists and three swipes. Thayne Recker (Arlington) tipped off his senior season with 12 points, on 5-of-6 shooting, and eight rebounds, while junior point guard Trey Elchert (Jackson Center) added 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep. Larry Fuqua III led the Barons with 10 points and three assists in the loss.
Bluffton returns to action on Friday, Nov. 20 when they hit the road to Buffalo, NY to play in Buffalo State University Tip-Off Tournament. The Beavers open with Nazareth College at 6 p.m. on Friday before playing either Buffalo State or Villa Maria on Saturday.
-BEAVERS-