By: Colton Steiner

ADA, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball crew kicked off the 2024-25 campaign in a road contest against the Ohio Northern Polar Bears, their first meeting since 1999. A hot start from the Polar Bears allowed the hosts to get ahead early and they never look back as ONU handed the Beavers a 89-55 loss to start the season. Bluffton opens up the season at 0-1 while ONU improves to 2-1 to start their year.

In the first four minutes, the Polar Bears would jump ahead 8-0 before Connor Martin (Holland/Springfield) would drive and roll in a layup to give the Beavers their first points of the season. Bluffton managed to pull within five midway through the first half after Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) knocked down a jumper to make it a 19-14 game. Despite the visitors cutting the deficit to two possessions, ONU would not let the lead slip from their grasp as they shot 65 percent from the field and outscored the Beavers 17-8 to end the half with a comfortable 46-23 lead.

Bluffton guard Michael Stammen (Versailles) got the second half started for the Beavers, knocking down a triple and a pair of free throws to put the score at 46-28. The teams would battle, going back and forth for the next several minutes until the 12:51 mark when the Polar Bears used a 16-8 spurt to extend their lead to 77-44, until Luke Beyke (St. Henry) would rattle home an old fashioned three-point play and then a baseline jumper to cut the lead to 77-49 with 5:12 left in regulation. The home team responded and closed the contest on a 12-5 run en route to their 89-55 victory.

The Beavers struggled to knock down shots from the field, hitting 38 percent (19-of-50) from the field and just 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) from behind the arc. Leading the charge was Nevin Robson who dropped 12 on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field. Kelvin Turner (Cincinnati/Lakota West) added eight with a team-high three rebounds while Ian Snelling bucketed eight to go along with four steals.

Ohio Northern was all over the glass, outrebounding Bluffton 42-14 and turning that into a 16-5 advantage in second chance points. While the Polar Bears shot 35-of-58 (60.4 percent) from the floor, the Beavers managed to force 14 ONU turnovers in the outing.

Blufton will return home on Sunday, Nov. 17, to face off against the Adrian College Bulldogs in the 2024-25 home opener, set for a 3 p.m. tip-off.

-Beavers-