By: Joseph Watkins, sports information assistant
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Bluffton University men's basketball team traveled to host Transylvania University to take on the Anderson University Ravens in the opening game of the Heartland Conference tournament on Friday, Feb. 28. It was a neck and neck game throughout, but unfortunately the Beavers were on the wrong end of a 77-68 defeat. Bluffton finished the season at 15-11 overall, while Anderson improved to 14-12. The Ravens advanced to the HCAC semi-finals against tournament host Transylvania at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29.
Bluffton jumped out to a 13-6 lead when Dezman Brown (Elyria) knocked down one down from three-point land with 13:02 left in the first half. The Beavers would extend their lead to nine (17-8) with another Brown jumper that gave Bluffton its largest lead of the game. But, the Ravens would climb back to notch it at 19 apiece when Malik Laffoon hit from distance with 6:52 left on the clock. Thanks to a Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) layup with 44 seconds remaining in the first half, Bluffton took a 36-32 lead into the break.
Anderson stormed back, taking an early second half lead when Maurice Knight would drilled a triple to make it 40-38 in favor of the Ravens with just under 17 minutes to play. After trailing for a few minutes, Bluffton came back and took a 48-47 lead when Aaron Rich (Greenville) knocked down a jumper with 11:35 on the scoreboard. It would be back and forth from there, but Anderson opened its largest lead when Larry Johnson dropped a deuce to make it 63-57 with five minutes to go in the contest. Bluffton would not be able to slow down the Raven attack, seeing its season come to an end with a 77-68 loss.
Four Beavers scored in double figures with Cosby leading the way thanks to 18 points on 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down four rebounds. Brown netted 16 of his own on 7-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-6 from distance. He also dished out a team-high five assists in the loss. Renner and Zeddie Pollock (Mogodore) both bucketed 10 points in the loss.
Bluffton hit 28-of-65 (43.1 percent) from the field, including 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from outside the arc. Anderson turned the ball over 17 times, one more than the Beavers. Bluffton pulled down 33 rebounds, compared to 24 for the Ravens.
The Heartland Conference will hand out its post-season All-HCAC hardware next Wednesday, March 4. Check the Bluffton athletics website for that release and updated record books during the coming weeks.
-BEAVERS-