By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton Beavers men's basketball squad would welcome back alumni for an early afternoon contest against the Transylvania Pioneers on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. After a back and forth first stanza, the Beavers would ride a 65 percent shooting clinic in the second half to stun the Pioneers for a 97-91 victory on Copeland Court. This is the Bluffton's first victory against Transylvania since 2021 when the Beavers defeated the Pioneers 69-53 in the Sommer Center. With the win, Bluffton improved to 6-16 on the season with a 5-10 record in the HCAC while Transylvania fell to 12-10 overall and 10-5 in the conference.
After a 5-0 start from the visitors, Connor Martin (Holland/Springfield) connected on his first career triple to put Bluffton on the board. Following an exchange of buckets, back-to-back threes and a layup from the Pioners put the score at 18-9 in favor of Transylvania. The Beavers would end the 9-0 run with a Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) layup at the 12:11 mark of the first half to cut the Transylvania lead to 18-11. The layup would spark a 9-2 run from Bluffton that was capped off with a Michael Stammen (Versailles) layin that evened the score at 20 apiece with under 10 to play in the half.
The Pioneers kept their composure and knocked down a pair of threes to make it a two-possession game, but a trifecta from Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) and a Nevin Robson layup cut the deficit to one with 7:27 left in the half. Bluffton took its first lead of the ballgame after little hook shot from Robson put them ahead. After trailing by three, the Pioneers would go on an 8-2 spurt to retake the lead 34-31 until Cam Rogers (Cincinnati/Cincinnati Christian) knotted up the score at 34 after knocking down a shot from deep. The Beavers closed out the half on a 5-2 run to lead 39-36 at the break.
Both teams charged out of the second half with some aggressive basketball, trading buckets and tallying 11 combined fouls in the first four minutes. After free throw for the Pioneers, a triple and a fast break layup from Ian Snelling put the Beavers up 55-49 with 14:27 left in the game. The home team would stay hot, going on a 12-2 spurt with Michael Stammen capping off the run by knocking down a wide open three from the wing, increasing the Bluffton lead to 67-51 with just under 11 minutes left in regulation.
Both teams would keep the pace moving, exchanging buckets until a 7-0 run from Transylvania cut the Bluffton lead to 72-64 with 7:49 left to play. The home team would stay calm, cool, and collected, pushing its lead to 77-64 after scoring five unanswered at the 6:14 mark of the second half. The Pioneers slowly edged their way back into the contest by narrowing the Bluffton lead to eight, but the Beavers put a halt to that by going on 5-0 run with Michael Stammen knocking down a pair of free throws to put the score at 87-74 in favor of the home team. With 31 seconds left, a three from the visitors cut their deficit down to seven. Following a layup from Transylvania that made the score 95-89, William Layfield (West Chester/Lakota West) drilled a a pair of free throws to put the nail in the coffin as Bluffton would celebrate with the win.
The Beavers offense was clicking on all cylinders, connecting on 51.4 percent (36-of-70) of their shots and 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) of their attempts from three-point range.While Bluffton lost the battle of the boards (40-34) their tight defense forced 14 Transylvania turnovers that led to a staggering 26 points, while five Beaver miscues led to only five Pioneer points. The Beavers were pushing the pace all game, having a 19-8 edge in fast break points.
Leading the charge for the Beavers was Nevin Robson who notched his second straight double-double with 25 points and 12 boards. Knocking down 50 percent of his shot attempts was Ian Snelling who added 19 points, three assists and four rebounds. Michael Stammen was back to form with 18 counters to go along with five dimes, while Cam Rogers notched 15 points against the Pioneers.
Bluffton will look to carry the momentum of two straight victories into Wednesday when it hosts Manchester on February 12 at 7:30 p.m. It will also be Senior Night when the Beavers will recognize the careers of their six soon-to-be graduates; Connor Martin, Ian Snelling, Michael Stammen, Cam Rogers, Caden Slusher (Rockford/Parkway) and Sihr Sumner (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes). Come out and support your Beavers and celebrate our seniors!
-BEAVERS-
