January 13, 2017
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton men have HCAC-frontrunner Hanover College in their sights as the Beavers look to snap a three-game losing skid on Saturday, Jan. 14. Exciting home contests against Anderson and Manchester saw Bluffton come up just short in the Sommer Center despite second half leads in both games.
The Beavers have dropped three straight Heartland Conference clashes since downing a talented Muskingum squad for the McDonald's Holiday Tournament championship, the 10th for Bluffton in the last 13 years. Hanover had its eight-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night when Mount St. Joseph handed the Panthers their first conference loss (76-73) of the season in seven games. The victory by the Lions set up a three-team tie for first place in the HCAC as Hanover, MSJ and Anderson all stand 6-1 heading into the weekend.
Hanover has dominated the all-time series with a 60-21 mark, including 12 wins in the past 15 meetings. The last Bluffton victory was an instant classic in the Sommer Center on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015. In a game that took three overtimes to declare a winner, Thayne Recker set a Bluffton and Heartland Conference record with 53 points thanks to a 25-of-28 afternoon at the charity stripe! The victory jump-started a Bluffton team that was 4-7 in the conference going into the game. The Beavers won eight of their next nine en route to Bluffton's first-ever trip to the Heartland Conference title game!
Next Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Beavers host 'the team up north' at 8 p.m. in the Sommer Center following the women's clash with the Yellow Jackets. Defiance holds a 132-66 margin in the all-time series, including six victories in the last seven meetings. The Ohio rivals have struggled in HCAC play, combining for just four wins in 13 games this season.
The highlight on Wednesday night came less than three minutes into the contest when senior AUSTIN ROHDE (Shelby) dialed long distance for career point 1,000! He finished the night with a game-high 24 points, pushing him to 27th all-time on the career scoring list. Rohde is 3rd in the HCAC with 19.7 PPG on 91-of-182 shooting from the field (50 percent). Rohde and junior KEVIN CHRISTIE (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) are tied for 4th in the conference in free throw percentage at 87.1 percent.
Sophomore JARED WENTLING (Carey) is bucketing 14.4 PPG to go along with his team-high 6.5 RPG (8th in the HCAC). Leading the Heartland with 4.8 assists per game is senior captain TREY ELCHERT (Jackson Center) who has hit 18-of-46 (39.1 percent) from distance and is scoring 7.9 PPG. Senior ADAM HOPKINS (Wellington/Keystone) has given the Beavers solid minutes off the bench, hitting 24-of-34 from the field for a team-best 70.6 FG percentage.
Bluffton is third in the Heartland Conference with a 47.4 FG percentage (353-of-744) and the Beavers 37.1 percent from deep is also 3rd in the HCAC. Their 15.4 assists per game rank second in the conference. Bluffton is currently 3rd in the conference from the free throw line, knocking down 180-of-243 for 74.1 percent on charity tosses.
-BEAVERS-