January 27, 2016
By: Josh Burkholder, sports information assistant
CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team traveled south down I-75 to take on the Mount St. Joseph University Lions on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The Beavers were unable to carry on their momentum from Saturday's victory over Franklin, falling by a score of 76-59. The win for the Lions pushed their season tally to 12-6 (9-2 and first place in the HCAC), while Bluffton dipped to 9-9 (4-7 HCAC).
Bluffton came out firing, taking a 10-2 lead just over three minutes in with help from two triples by sophomore guard AUSTIN TERRILL (Richwood/North Union). Mount St. Joseph would respond right away, knotting the score at 11 two minutes later. Bluffton then took back the lead on a jumper from BILLY TAFLINGER (Lima/Central Catholic) and a layup plus the foul from AUSTIN ROHDE (Shelby).
The score stayed close all the way to halftime, which the Lions closed out on a 9-0 run to take a 35-30 lead into the break. Terrill led the Beaver first half scoring with nine, all from behind the arc. Mount St. Joseph dominated the paint in the opening stanza, outscoring Bluffton 22-6.
The Mount momentum carried over to the second half in a big way, as the 9-0 run expanded to 17-0, giving MSJ a 13-point lead at the 17:03 mark. The margin would fluctuate between 10 and 15 points for much of the rest of the game. With three minutes left, former Bluffton point guard ANDREW FINLEYpoured in back-to-back threes to push the home lead to its highest margin, 18, making the score 72-54. A late triple from JARED WENTLING (Carey) in the final minute was not enough for the Beavers as MSJ took the 76-59 victory.
Rohde led the Beavers in scoring with 17 on 5-of-9 shooting and a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. THAYNE RECKER (Arlington) posted his 24th career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Wentling grabbed seven rebounds, as well as equaling Taflinger with five assists.
Bluffton shot 45.8 percent (22-of-48) from the field, but a meager 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from the three-point line. MSJ made half of their shots (31-of-62) from the field, and fared much better than the Beavers from deep, going 47.1 percent (8-of-17). The Lions held a 33-28 advantage on the boards and accumulated six more steals, leading to 19 points off of turnovers. The MSJ bench outperformed the Beaver non-starters significantly, by a margin of 26-0.
Bluffton now travels to Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Jan. 30, to take on the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fighting Engineers at 1 p.m. The men will return home to the Sommer Center on Feb. 3 for a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday meeting with Manchester. Come support your Beavers!
-BEAVERS-