The Bluffton University men's basketball team fought off the Earlham College Quakers for a big 77-68 Heartland Conference win at the Sommer Center on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Although the Beavers never led throughout the entire first stanza, they fought back in the second half to take down the Quakers in a pivotal HCAC tilt. Bluffton improved to 14-4 overall and 8-3 in the Heartland Conference, while Earlham fell to 5-12 and 4-6 in the HCAC.

A three-point shot by sophomore Dezman Brown (Elyria) with 7:01 left in the contest finally put Bluffton up 60-57 for good. Two free throws by junior Isaiah Taylor (Yellow Springs) made the score 74-66 with 54 seconds remaining, all but sealing the Beaver victory.

A low-scoring first half came to a close when Earlham's Kenneth Stalling Jr. buried a three-point shot with three ticks remaining, giving the visitors a 33-30 lead the break.

An early triple from Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) knotted the score at 35-35 less than a minute and a half into the second period. Bluffton finally started to pull away with 4:48 left when Renner hit a pair of free throws that put the Beavers up comfortably (68-60) after a tense HCAC battle for the first 36 minutes.

Taylor led the way, dropping a career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, and he also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds while doling out a team-high six assists in the victory. Renner netted 13 of his own on 3-of-6 from the field and 1-of-3 from three-point land. He was also a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) and Brown bucketed 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Dowdy added six points on a pair of crucial trifectas late in the game.

The Beavers hit 27-of-53 from the field for 50.9 percent, compared to 30-of-64 (46.9 percent) for the Quakers. Bluffton went 7-of-16 from three-point (43.8 percent) while the Quakers were 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc. The Quakers turned the ball over nine times, compared to just eight for the Beavers.

The men will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 26, when they travel to Hanover to take on the Panthers in a crucial HCAC clash. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.

Women’s game 

The Bluffton University women's basketball team was defeated at Earlham by the score of 70-60 on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. The loss dropped the Beavers to 6-12 on the year (4-7 HCAC), while Earlham improved to 6-11 and 4-6 in the Heartland Conference.

The Beavers struggled from the floor and also committed early turnovers as they found themselves in a 9-2 hole with 5:41 remaining in the opening quarter after a Kayla Bowling layup. Bluffton made up for it with its defense, pulling within two points, 9-7, at the end of one round.

In the second quarter the scoring began to pick up. The teams exchanged baskets, but Bluffton was never able to capture the lead. Junior Tj Mills (Dayton/Chaminade Julienne) scored six points and Breanna Graham (Springboro) added five markers to help lift the Beavers on the offensive end as the visitors trailed 28-24 at the break.

Earlham kicked off the second half in the same fashion as the first, scoring seven right out of the gates to widen the lead to 35-24 with 8:44 remaining in the third period. Bluffton continued to fight, but Earlham had an answer for every punch the Beavers threw at them. Bluffton connected on 4-of-6 from long range, two of them coming from sophomore Kylie Brock (Villa Hills, Ky.). The Beavers still trailed by the score of 52-43 heading to the final stanza.

The fourth quarter was controlled by the home team as they outscored the Beavers 18-17 en route to a 70-60 vicory. Bluffton played solid in the second half, but it was too little, too late as the home team made enough plays to win the game.

Mills led the Beavers in scoring as she put up 22, going 8-of-15 from the floor to go along with four steals. Graham scored 11 off the bench, going 3-of-6 from long distance. Brock scored eight thanks to 2-of-4 shooting on triples. Fellow sophomore Nora Hemminger (McComb) had five steals while also going a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Freshman Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) led the Beavers in rebounds with eight.

Earlham was led by Camryn White who scored 17 points while going 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Zoe Curtis added 11 points while pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Kayla Bowling tallied 13 counters and Kyndall Spears scored 11 off the bench for the home team.

Bluffton shot 20-of-49 on the night, making 40.8 percent of its field goal attempts. Earlham hit 45.8 percent on 22-of-48 from the floor. The Beavers drilled 7-of-16 from distance, making 43.8 percent, while the Quakers fired up 7-of-14 for an efficient 50 percent of their long distance bombs. Bluffton was outrebounded 33-32. Earlham had 18 assists to Bluffton's 13. The visitors committed 23 turnovers to Earlham's 21.

The Beavers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 26, at Hanover College in the second game of a doubleheader. The men start at 2 p.m. and the women will follow at approximately 4 p.m. The next home game for the women is slated for Wednesday, Jan. 30, when they host Mount St. Joseph at 7:30 P.M.