By: Colton Steiner

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Bluffton University men's basketball team traveled south to face off against the Transylvania Pioneers who went into the contest with a seven-game winning streak over the Beavers. This is the first of three consecutive road games before the start of the Christmas holidays. Despite a quick start from Bluffton, Transylvania was able to ride a late first half run and not look back as they handed the visiting Beavers a 79-64 loss, dropping Bluffton to 1-7 on the year and 0-3 in conference play. The Pioneers improved to 4-3 overall and staying perfect in the HCAC at 3-0.

Bluffton jumped out of the gate with a Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) lay-up and a Connor Martin (Holland/Springfield) dunk to start off with a 4-3 lead at the 16:32 mark in the first quarter. However, the home team was able to go on an 15-4 run to go ahead 18-8 with 11:41 left in the first half. Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) would immediately answer 10 seconds later with a triple to get the deficit back under ten. After a second Connor Martin throwdown, the Beavers would have Brendan Williams (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka) and Cam Rogers (Cincinnati/Cincinnati Christian) knock down jumpers to bring the visitors within three (24-21) with 5:41 left till the break. Transylvania was able to respond by closing out the first 20 with a 15-6 run which made it 39-27 at the break.

The two teams exchanged buckets to open up the second half, with Transylvania being able to extend its lead to 15, but the Beavers would fight back and bring the deficit to 12 after a three from William Layfield (West Chester/Lakota West) with 14:30 left made it 47-35. After going back and forth, Bluffton trimmed the deficit to single digits after a three from Ian Snelling brought the score to 54-45 with 10:15 remaining in regulation. The Pioneers would split a pair of free throws, but a second triple from Snelling made it a seven-point game. However, Bluffton was unable to cut the deficit any more, with Transylvania closing out the last nine minutes by outscoring Bluffton 24-16, handing the Beavers a 79-64 defeat.

Four Beavers reached double figures in scoring, with Ian Snelling bucketing 15 on 5-of-10 shooting that included 3-for-7 from behind the arc. He would also grab five rebounds and dish out three assists in the loss. Nevin Robson added 14 with Connor Martin and William Layfield each scoring ten. Leading Bluffton with a career-high six assists was Sihr Sumner (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes).

Bluffton would struggle from the floor as the Beavers hit only 24-of-56 (42.9 percent) for the game while the Pioneers would go over 50 percent, hitting 29-of-54 (53.7 percent) of their total field goals. While Pioneers would also get the edge, 36-24, in the rebounding battle, Bluffton held a 5-0 advantage in total blocks.

The Beavers will be back on the road as they return to Kentucky for a battle with Berea College in a rare 12 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

-BEAVERS-