By: Colton Steiner
WOOSTER, Ohio - The Bluffton Beavers headed two hours east to compete in the Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic at the College of Wooster. In the opening contest of the classic, the Beavers would go up against the Mount Union Raiders, who they have only faced off against twice with their last matchup being played in 1998. Despite a strong first half from Bluffton, Mount Union was too much to handle in the second period as they dealt the Beavers a 95-72 loss, dropping them to 0-3 to start the season.
The Beavers would fall behind early against the Raiders, 5-0, until Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) drained a three to get the Beavers on the board in the first minute. Mount Union answered back with a 6-0 run to jump ahead 11-3 with 17:39 left to play in the first half. Stout defense from the Beavers would be the key as they outscored the Raiders 8-0 over the next four minutes, tying the contest at 11-11.
The two teams would go back and forth, with Mount extending the lead to six after a triple at the 9:12 mark made the score 23-17. Bluffton fought back and cut the lead to one after a pair of free throws from Michael Stammen (Versailles) made it a 34-33 battle. However, the Raiders would close the last two minutes on a 7-1 run to go into the half with a 41-35 lead.
Mount Union caught fire to start the second half, outscoring Bluffton 14-4 in the first four minutes to go ahead 55-39, leading to a Beavers timeout. After back-to-back layups from the Raiders, the Beavers would finally get a bucket with a Nevin Robson layup.
Mount Union saw its lead balloon to 24 before Sihr Sumner (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) dunked it home off an assist from Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights), making the score 65-43 with 12:33 left in regulation. While the Beavers were able to pull within 19 thanks to a pair of Michael Stammen free throws, they were unable to find a rhythm on offense in the final ten minutes on the way to a 95-72 setback.
Bluffton struggled to find their shot on offense, hitting just 24-of-59 (40.7 percent) from the field while Mount Union knocked down 52.2 percent (36-of-69) of their shots in the contest. Both teams were an identical 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc. The Raiders outrebounded the Beavers 38-32, while also forcing 17 turnovers, 12 of which came in the second half
Leading the way for Bluffton was Nevin Robson bucketed 17 on an efficient 6-of-11 shooting, while also grabbing seven boards. Ian Snelling added 14 and was one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing the day with nine. Junior guard Caden Slusher (Rockford/Parkway) chipped in with eight off the bench.
The Beavers will kick right back into action on Saturday, Nov. 23, when they face off with LaRoche in the consolation game of the Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic at 4 p.m.
-BEAVERS-