By: Joseph Watkins, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball team played host to Heartland Conference rival Defiance College on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the last regular season 2019-20 game at the Sommer Center. Bluffton rolled to a 68-52 win, improving to 15-9 (11-6 HCAC) on the strength of a school-record seventh consecutive HCAC victory! Defiance fell to 11-13 and 6-11 in the conference. The Beavers will be a top four seed when the tournament field is set following Saturday's games.
Defiance jumped out to a 7-2 lead when Marell Jordan knocked down a three with 16:50 on the clock in the first half. But, the Beavers would come back and notch it at 14 apiece when Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) split a pair of free throws. The home team kept firing, taking their first lead when Isaiah Taylor (Yellow Springs) dropped a deuce to make it 16-14 in favor of the good guys. After a bevy of lead changes during the first 20 minutes, Bluffton would finally take control as the Beavers opened a 37-27 lead at the break.
Bluffton kept its feet on the gas in the second half, stretching the lead to 15 when Taylor hit from in close to make it 44-29 with 17:30 to play. The home squad continued to pour it on, gashing the Jackets for their largest lead of the game when Renner knocked down a jumper which made it 60-42. Bluffton capped the season sweep with a 68-52 stomping of "that other purple school up north."
Renner led all scorers with 17 points on a very efficient 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point land. He also pulled down four rebounds in the victory. Dezman Brown (Elyria) netted 16 of his own on 8-of-11 from the field and he also had a game-high four takeaways for the Beavers. Taylor and Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) combined for 24 points on 9-of-21 from the field. Taylor pulled down a game-high six rebounds for the home squad.
Bluffton hit 26-of-52 (50 percent) from the field, including 2-of-8 (25 percent) from distance. The visitors coughed the ball up 15 times, compared to just nine miscues for the home squad. Defiance pulled down 31 reboounds, three more than the victors.
The Beavers will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 22, when they travel to Transylvania University for their their final regular season game of the year. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's contest.
-BEAVERS-
