Takayla Gadberry, sports information alumna
BLUFFTON, Ohio – The Bluffton University men's basketball team secured a 70-69 victory in a nail bitter against long-time Defiance College on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The Beavers improved to 4-8 (2-3 HCAC) while the Yellow Jackets fell to 5-7 (0-5 HCAC).
The Beavers started off with an 8-5 run to take an early lead. A triple from Defiance tied it up 8-8 before Kegan Owen (Indianapolis, IN/Greenwood) knocked down a three to give the Beavers an 11-8 lead. A battle for control saw multiple lead changes before another Yellow Jacket three increased their spread to four (24-20). Bluffton pulled within one (24-23) when Brady Wheeler (Lima/Shawnee) hit from downtown. An Owen basket gave the home team a 29-28 lead before yet another Defiance three and dunk gave them a 35-31 lead going into halftime.
Bluffton opened the second half with an Owen trifecta and a basket by Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) to take the lead, 38-37. The game saw two more ties before a freebie and layup from Robson put the Beavers up four (46-42). A Defiance bomb tied the score up at 50, but Michael Stammen (Versailles) answered back with a three of his own to push the home team up by three (53-50) with 10:52 to play. The Yellow Jackets fought back and took a 68-63 lead, but a three-point shot and two freebies for Wheeler set a new ball game (68-68) with 36 seconds on the clock. A Bluffton foul allowed Defiance to take a 69-68 lead, but two charity shots for Owen with 1.4 ticks remaining secured the home team's 70-69 victory.
Leading the Beaver offense was Wheeler with a career-high 21 points and Owen with 20. Connor Martin (Holland/Springfield) put nine tallies on the board with Stammen and Robson contributing seven apiece. Wheeler also tallied a career-best and game-high eight rebounds with Martin just two off his pace (six). Robson tallied four boards in the victory.
It was a split in the shooting battle as Bluffton outshot Defiance 25-of-44 (56.8 percent) to 25-of-52 (48.1 percent) overall, but the Yellow Jackets did better from distance, going 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) compared to 6-of-15 (40 percent). The Beavers knocked down 14-of 17 (82.4 percent) from the charity stripe with Defiance hitting 9-of-12 (75 percent).
The home team tallied four more points in the paint (32-28) but it also turned the ball over seven more times (20-13). The Beavers dominated the glass with 14 more boards (32-18) on Wednesday night.
The men will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 7, when they travel to Rose-Hulman. Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m. in Terre Haute, Ind. Go Beavers!
-BEAVERS-
