By: Colton Steiner

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton Beavers kicked off their 2025-26 campaign by facing off against the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern. Despite a close contest, a late surge from the visitors from the OAC was enough to give them a 69-59 win over the Beavers, putting Bluffton at a record of 0-1 to start the season. With the win, Ohio Northern improves to 1-1 on the season. 

It would be a physical, defensive battle right out of the gate, with Ohio Northern holding a 12-6 lead midway through the first half before a three from Justice Thompson brought the Beavers within three. The two teams would go back and fortth, but after a layup from Ian Snelling, back-to-back triples from the Polar Bears would put the visitors up 30-20. Bluffton would fight back, closing the half out on a 10-1 run, as Andre Irvin would close out the half with a layup to beat the buzzer with Ohio Northern holding a 31-30 lead at the break. 

Coming out of the half, both offenses would exchange buckets and neither team holding more than a three point lead, until the 14:46 mark when the Polar Bears would find a rhythm and score eight stright, including two consecutive shots from behind the arc, to go up 47-39. After being unable to break the deficit for a few minutes, Bluffton would finally find a groove with 6:43 left to play, by going on a 9-0 spurt to pull within one to make it 56-57 with four minutes left to play. While Matt Ray would go 3-for-3 from the charity stripe at the 1:49 mark to cut the Ohio Northern lead to 61-59, the Beavers would be unablle to hit a shot on offense to tie the game up, as the Polar Bears would finish the contest by going 8-for-8 from the charity stripe as they would hand Bluffton a 69-59 loss on Copeland Court. 

It was a steller showing of defense from the Beavers, holding the visitors to just 21-of-50 (42 percent) from the floor, and 7-of-21 from behind the arc, while forcing 15 Polar Bear turnovers. Offensively, it was a struggle, with Bluffton finishing the contest with a field goal percentage of 41.2 percent (21-of-51) and just 1-of-13 (7.7 percent) from three. The free throw line would be the difference maker, with Ohio Northern going 20-of-25 (80 percent), while the Beavers would go 16-of-28 (57.1 percent). The visitors would also win the battle of the boards, with a 38-30 advantage on the contest. 

Opening up the season with a double-double was Nevin Robson, who led Bluffton in scoring with 17 and adding 11 rebounds. Andre Irvin would add 11 with a pair of assists, as Matt Ray would tally 10 off the bench. 

The Beavers will look for their first win of the season when they go right back into action on Saturday, Nov. 15 when they play host to the Hiram Terriers with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

-Beavers-