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MSJ sneak past Bluffton with 70-67 win

Posted: Feb 01, 2003

By Tim Stried
February 1, 2003

Bluffton College nearly pulled off a huge win over a talented Mount St. Joseph squad Saturday afternoon in Founders Hall, but the visiting Lions pulled out a 70-67 win over the Beavers.

Bluffton trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second half but came all the way back to tie the game at 54-54 with 5:15 left to play. Senior Lyndsey Robinson, who collected her 10th career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, hit a jumper to tie the score again at 56-56, but The Mount went on a 6-0 run at that point to lead 62-56 with 2:31 left.

In the final two minutes, Robinson, junior Lindsay Bacon and senior Melissa James all made foul shots and sophomore Cara Young connected on a bucket with 47 seconds left to bring Bluffton within two points at 64-62. Bacon made two more free throws with 34 seconds left to bring the Beavers within one points at 65-64, but MSJ made three free throws to go up by four points with five seconds to go.

Bacon then nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner with one tick remaining to bring the deficit back to one at 68-67, but MSJ made both free throws immediately after that and BC was unable to get off a shot at the final buzzer.

Bluffton falls to 2-17 overall and 1-9 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Mount St. Joseph improves to 13-7 overall and 7-3 in the HCAC.

Young scored a career-high 12 points to match Robinson for team-high honors, while senior Kristen Siller added 10 points to be the third BC player in double figures. James chipped in eight points and grabbed seven boards and Bacon ended the game with eight points.

Bluffton committed just 16 turnovers in the game, which tied its second-lowest total of the season, but the Beavers were whistled for 25 personal fouls, which sent the Lions to the free throw line 36 times, the most of any BC opponent this season.

Bluffton went on a 9-0 run late in the first half to take a four-point lead at 28-24 with 4:30 left before halftime, but the Lions came back to take a 37-29 lead at the intermission. BC out-scored MSJ 38-33 in the second half to nearly pull off their second win in a row.

Mount St. Joseph's Virginia Grace scored a game-high 22 points and set an HCAC record with nine blocked shots. As a team, MSJ blocked 12 shots, which is also an HCAC record.