By Tim Stried
December 28, 2002

Three Bluffton College players all collected new career scoring highs, but Lake Erie College took a 77-69 win over the Beavers Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the Notre Dame College of Ohio Tournament.

The game was a rematch of the Dec. 16 contest at Lake Erie that saw Bluffton take a 53-52 win, but this time The Storm was able to overcome Bluffton's first half lead and hold off the Beavers down the stretch. BC once again out-rebounded LEC (36-32) and forced more turnovers than they committed (21-20).

Senior Lyndsey Robinson scored 22 points, senior Kristen Siller added 12 and senior Paula Fry chipped in 11 as all three players established new career scoring highs to help Bluffton score a season-high 69 points. The Beavers' 13 steals and 22-for-36 performance at the free throw line also all marked team season highs.

Bluffton's 16 offensive rebounds led to a 16-9 advantage in second chance points and the Beavers got a season-high 25 points from the bench.

The Beavers led by as many as five points in the first half and held the lead with less than six minutes to go before halftime, but Lake Erie came back to take a 30-27 lead at the break. In the second half, a 19-10 run by Bluffton tied the score at 50-50 with 7:52 left in the game, but The Storm scored the game's next eight points to regain control.

Bluffton falls to 1-9 on the season and will host Muskingum College at 2 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 4.