By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men's basketball squad would honor six seniors before facing off against the Manchester Spartans on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in a cruicial HCAC battle. Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights), Cam Rogers (Cincinnati/Cincinnati Christian), Connor Martin (Holland/Springfield), Caden Slusher (Rockford/Parkway), Michael Stammen (Versailles) and Sihr Sumner (Delaware/Rutherford B. Hayes) all played their final game on Copeland Court in a contest that went down to the wire. The Beavers rode a late second half burst to cut the lead to one possession but the Spartans held on for an 81-79 victotry. The loss dropped Bluffton to a record of 6-17 on the season with a 5-11 mark in conference play while Manchester improved to 8-15 overall and 3-13 in the conference.
Cam Rogers would get the scoring started after driving down the lane and rolling in a layup to put the Beavers up 2-0 in the first minute. After a 7-2 run from the Spartans, The Beavers answered with a 6-2 spurt to take a 10-9 lead after Ian Snelling put in a fastbreak layup with 15:50 left in the half. The two teams battled back and forth and keep it a one-possession game until an 8-0 spurt put Manchester up seven with under 10 minutes left in the half until Caden Slusher buried a three from straight on to cut the defiit to 25-21. The Beaver offense was unable to find a flow with the Spartans closing the half outscoring the home team, 20-13, en route to a 45-34 lead at the break.
Both teams opened the second half exchanging buckets with Manchester extending its lead to 60-44 with 12:48 to play until a three from Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) cut the deficit to 13. After a back and forth battle, the Beavers found some momentum to go on a 11-3 run which cut the deficit to 73-65 with 7:31 left in regulation. Following a jumper from the Spartans, the Beavers would respond with a Robson bucket and back-to-back layups from Michael Stammen to cut the visitor's lead to four points (75-71) with 3:46 remaining.
With the Beaver offense hitting on all cylinders on both ends of the court, Nevin Robson drove the lane and rolled home a layup to cut the deficit to two points with only 2:34 to play. Following a timeout, Manchester would knock home back-to-back buckets to go up six with under two minutes to go. After a Spartan bucket, Sihr Sumner converted from in close, forced a steal and then drove the lane for a deuce with his left hand, making it a two-point game. The tenacious defense from the Beavers on the following possession would force a Spartan turnover with only 18 seconds left in regulation to give the home team a chance to tie, take the lead, or try to win it. Following a Bluffton timeout, Michael Stammen would get an open look from deep behind the arc with four seconds left, but it came up just short as Manchester would hold on for the 81-79 win.
The Beavers used a 56 percent (17-of-30) mark in the second half to make it a one-possession game in the end. Bluffton went 32-of-63 (50.8 percent) for the game, including 24 percent (6-of-25) from deep. Bluffton managed to win the battle of the boards by a margin of 35-33, while dominating the paint to the tune of a 48-34 advantage. The Spartans would move the ball very well as they dished out 20 assists.
Picking up his third consecutive double-double was junior Nevin Robson who scored 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and snagging 13 rebounds while also stripping away three steals. Michael Stammen would lay it all out on the floor in his final game at Copeland court with the senior dropping in a team-high 24 points. Cam Rogers tallied 11 markers and Sihr Sumner added 10 to go along with five boards and some crucial buckets down the stretch.
Bluffton will hit the road on Saturday, Feb. 15, when they travel to face Rose-Hulman with tip-off set for 3 p.m. The Beavers' magic number to seal a spot in the HCAC tournament is one, needing a win or a Manchester loss.
-BEAVERS-
