The Bluffton University men's basketball team came from behind in the second half to pick up a 61-56 win over North Central in their first contest of the 2010-11 season on Friday, Nov. 19, at the Gregory Arena. The Beavers are 1-0 while North Central begins with a 0-1 mark.

Less than two minutes into the game, junior Brent Farley (Lima/Shawnee) sparked the Bluffton offense with a jumper. At the 16:53 mark Farley found senior Rob Luderman (Ayersville), giving the Beavers the slight edge, 4-2. After several minutes of intense action, two Farley layins generated a four-point advantage (12-8) for Bluffton.

However, the Cardinals took control for much of the first half until the Beavers cut the deficit to just one. With four seconds remaining, junior guard Nick Lee (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) added two counters to the scoreboard, giving Bluffton the one-point halftime edge, 27-26.

Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) converted a layup to start the second half, but the North Central offense ignited as the Cardinals remained in control over the next 10 minutes. At the 8:45 mark, junior Mychal Hill (London/Jonathan Alder) connected with Dustin Kinn (Alvada/New Riegel) to bring the Beavers within one. Freshman post Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee) knocked down a jumper, giving Bluffton the lead with just under eight minutes left in the game.

At the 2:32 minute mark, Hill sank a trey to increase the Bluffton lead to six. The Beavers followed suit, going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe before a dunk from Pope led to Bluffton's biggest advantage, 61-52, of the night. Four North Central free throws with time expiring reduced the deficit, but Bluffton came out on top, 61-56, over the host team.

Leading the way in the scoring column for Bluffton was big man Will Pope with 14 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor. Both Pope and Brent Farley snatched seven boards apiece while Farley added nine points and one block. Junior guards Mychal Hill and Nick Lee tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively, with teammate Josh Fisher picking up two steals in the contest.

The Cardinals received a balanced scoring attack with two players in double digits, Landon Gamble with 12 and Derek Raridon with 10. Brian Evans pulled down a game-high 11 boards for North Central. The Beavers outshot the Cardinals, making 20-of-47 attempts from the field for 42.6 percent. The Cardinals hit 23-of-63 attempts for 37.1 percent. North Central proved more efficient with the ball, only turning it over 12 times while forcing 17 miscues by Bluffton.

The Beavers will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 20, when they play Valley City State College in the championship contest of the North Central College Tip-Off. The game is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Kenyon moves into Tip-Off Championship
with 67-56 win over Beavers

Josh Bruner, sports information assistant

Box Score

The Bluffton University women's basketball team hosted Kenyon College Friday, Nov. 19 in the opening game of the season as well as the first round of the 2010 Tip-Off Tournament. The Beavers fell behind early, trailing 39-27 at the half. Bluffton outscored Kenyon in the second period, 29-28, but it was not enough as they fell to Kenyon by a final margin of 67-56.

Both teams got off to a slow start before the Beavers put in their first bucket with a Brittany Lewis (Springfield/Shawnee) layup at the 18:14 mark which tied the game at 2-2. Kenyon pulled ahead quickly with a Morgan Korinek layup as they led the Beavers 8-4 after three minutes of play.

Sophomore Lauren Hutton (New Riegel) brought the Beavers back within a deuce when she hit a layup to bring the score to 10-8 at the 15-minute mark. The Beavers pulled even three minutes later with a Beth Yoder (Marshallville/Smithville) three-pointer to tie the game at 13.

Kenyon quickly took back the lead, going on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes, capped by a Katie Adlam triple that put Kenyon up 22-13 with nine minutes remaining in the half. The Beavers slowly pecked away at the lead, pulling within two at the 4:37 mark thanks to consecutive Miller free throws.

Kenyon responded to the Beaver comeback with a run of their own, led by Maureen Hirt with seven points. They went on a 13-3 run over the last four minutes of the period, making it 39-27 at the half.

The Beavers came out of the break looking to pull themselves back into the contest. A Calandra Manning (Riverside/Stebbins) layup, followed by a Miller old fashioned three-point play brought the Beavers back within seven as they trailed 39-32 just one minute into the second half.

The Beavers once again made a stab at the lead as a Brittany Stegmaier (Garfield/Trinity) layup made it 41-36 just past the 17-minute mark. Kenyon added two quick buckets, pushing the margin back to nine after four minutes of second half play.

Maggie Boetler led another spurt for Kenyon as they went on a 9-2 run over a span of six minutes to put Kenyon up 59-44 with 6:34 left in the game. An Emily Shellabarger (St. Marys/Memorial) jumper closed the gap to 61-51 with just four minutes left.

Kenyon seemed to match the Beavers for the rest of the night as Bluffton dropped its first game of the season 67-56. The loss puts the Beavers at 0-1 while Kenyon improved to 2-0 on the season.

Miller paced the Beavers with 19 points, six boards, four steals, and four assists on the game, while draining 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. Hutton added eight points and nine rebounds for Bluffton in her first collegiate action. Yoder and Stegmaier each chipped in six points for the Beaver offense. Lewis followed closely with five of her own. Shellabarger pulled in five rebounds while adding four points.

Kenyon was led by Kayla Ernst with 22 points. Hirt also hit double digits as she knocked down 12. They pulled in five and six rebounds, respectively. Adlam contributed nine points, while Morgan Korinek added eight markers with five boards.

Bluffton struggled from the field, going 20-of-55 (36.4 percent) from the field. The Beavers hit only 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) from behind the arc. Kenyon proved more efficient from the field, hitting 27-of-60 (45 percent) and 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from behind the arc. The Beavers were outstanding at the free throw line, knocking down 13-of-16 (81.3 percent). Kenyon was close behind, hitting 9-of-12 (75 percent). Kenyon won the battle on the boards (39-31). The Beavers turned the ball over 18 times, while forcing 16 miscues from Kenyon.

The Bluffton University women's basketball team will face Albion Saturday in the consolation round of the 2010 Tip-Off tournament. The game will begin at 1 p.m. and will be followed by the championship contest between Kenyon and Brescia in Founders Hall.