BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Bluffton University men's basketball team jumped out to a quick start while most of the country was on the sidelines when the 2020-21 season kicked off last fall. Bluffton rolled off 10 consecutive wins to open the season, shattering the school record of six wins to start a season, and putting the 2020-21 squad third all-time behind the 2005-06 and 2006-07 teams (11 wins in a row) for consecutive wins at any point of a season. The Beavers played in their fourth consecutive Heartland Conference tourney and Bluffton's 11 wins pushed Head Coach Guy Neal to 382 victories for his career!
Although the Beavers will be without the services of Dezman Brown, Aaron Rich and Ronnie James, who were all major contributors during their four years at Bluffton, All-Heartland Conference guard Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) returns for his final season on the hardwood. Cosby was one of just six players from the 10 Heartland Conference teams to be named First Team All-HCAC. He led the Beavers and was 6th in the conference with 15.8 PPG. The talented guard hit 86-of-178 from the field (48.3 percent), including 20-of-51 (39.2 percent) from distance.
Fellow senior Chad Frey (Lima/Bath) saw action in 10 games last season, scoring 10 points in Bluffton's season-opening 61-59 win over Adrian. Juniors Marcus Bruns (Coldwater) and Mike Ketner (Minster) both played starters' minutes in 2020-21. Ketner went for 6.2 PPG with 19 assists, while Bruns averaged 5.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG. He was almost perfect at the stripe, hitting 16-of-17 free throws for 94.1 percent. Ryan Rose (Tipp City/Bethel) and Nolan Finch (Toledo/Cardinal Stritch) also made contributions off the bench as sophomores.
Injuries limited Damian Davis (Bexley) last season, but when he was healthy, he was a load for opposing defenses. As a freshman in 2020-21, Davis netted 9.6 PPG with nine assists while shooting 94.1 percent at the free throw line (16-of-17). Michael Stammen (Versailles) gives the Beavers depth out front after hitting 5-of-9 from outside the arc.
Bluffton got it done on the defensive end once again in 2020-21. The Beavers allowed an HCAC-low 61.0 PPG, two fewer than they did in 2019-20 when their 63.0 PPG given up were second in the conference. Opponents hit just 42.7 percent from the floor, 2nd in the HCAC, and their 29.1 percent on triples was the lowest given up by any Heartland Conference squad. Bluffton also cleaned the glass with 34.7 RPG, 3rd-most in the league.
The Beavers travel to Alma College for the season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 9. They follow that up with a trip to Heidelberg eight days later. Miami-Middletown comes to town for the home opener on Saturday, Nov. 20. The Heartland Conference portion of the schedule is slated to go off on December 4 when Bluffton makes the long trip to Hanover College. With the holidays comes a return of the McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament hosted by the Beavers in the Sommer Center. Those games are slated for December 29-30. The regular season comes to a close on Friday, Feb. 18, when rival Defiance College makes its annual trip to Allen County.
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