By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men hosted Anderson University on Wednesday, Jan. 8, as the first day of spring semester classes kicked off. The Ravens would start hot from deep and never cool down as they knocked off the host Beavers, 102-83. Bluffton fell to 3-10 on the season and 2-4 in the HCAC while Anderson improved to 10-3 overall with a 5-1 mark in conference play.
The visitors would open up the contest right out of the gate with a triple from Tate Ivanyo before Cam Rogers (Cincinnati/Cincinnati Christian) answered with a layup on the other end to make it 3-2 a minute and a half into the game. Following an Anderson bucket, Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) got the hoop and harm to even the score at 5-5. After the Ravens were able to hit another three to go up 14-7, Robson converted his second old-fashioned three-point-play of the contest to cut the deficit to 14-10. Anderson would knock down yet another shot from downtown, but William Layfield (West Chester/Lakota West) dialed long distance to pull Bluffton within four.
A 10-4 spurt from the Ravens put them up 27-17 with 11:09 on the clock, but back-to-back buckets from Nevin Robson cut the lead down to 27-21 at the 7:57 mark of the first half. The Beavers would then go on a 6-2 run to make it a one-possession contest, however, Anderson would answer with their own run, outscoring the hosts 12-0 before Cam Rogers knocked down a jumper to make it 39-29. To close out the half, the visitors would edge out Bluffton 10-3 en route to a comfortable 49-32 lead at the break.
The two teams went back and forth for several minutes to start the second half, but back-to-back triples from the Ravens gave them a 66-43 lead with just under 15 minutes left in regulation. While Bluffton was able to keep up with Anderson, a 6-0 run from the visitors put them ahead 82-56 with 8:56 left to play. The threes continued to fall for the Ravens in the final eight minutes and the Beavers did not have an answer for their perimeter shooting as the visitors walked away with a 102-83 win over Bluffton.
Bluffton knocked down 34-of-81 from the field, but struggled behind the arc, shooting only 12 percent (3-of-25) from deep. It was just raining threes for Anderson as the visitors hit a ridiculous 21-of-42 (50 percent) from downtown and 46.7 percent (35-of-75) from the floor. While the Ravens would collect 26 assists to Bluffton's 18, the Beavers did win the rebounding battle (47-42).
Cam Rogers scored a team-high 20 in the defeat and he grabbed five rebounds. Also contributing was Nevin Robson who tallied 16 with seven boards and five steals. Brendan Williams (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka) added 11 and snagged seven rebounds. Luke Beyke (St. Henry) scored 10 and William Layfield dished out a game-high six assists.
Bluffton will look to rebound when the Beavers travel to Franklin College on Saturday, Jan. 11, to face off against the Grizzlies with tip-off set for 4 p.m. following the women's matchup.
-Beavers-