The Bluffton University men's basketball team traveled to Earlham, Ind., on Wednesday, Jan.15, to take on the Earlham College Quakers in a mid-week Heartland Conference clash. It went back-and-forth but unfortunately for the Beavers, the Quakers would pull away late, sealing a 74-67 setback for the visitors. Bluffton fell to 7-7 overall and 3-4 in the Heartland Conference, while Earlham improved to 6-8 overall and 2-5 in the HCAC.
Bluffton was in an early 4-0 hole when Earlham's Jamel Barnes knocked down a pair of free throws just over two minutes into the game. The Beavers battled, tying it up 36 all at the half, but the Quakers used a 38-31 advantage in second half to propel them, 74-67, over Bluffton.
Earlham would get on the board first when Blake Bonin got to the rack. The first couple minutes would be back-and-forth before the home team took a 12-point lead following an AJ White three which made it 31-19 with 5:41 left in the first stanza. But the Beavers would come storming back and notching it 36-36 right before the half thanks to an AJ Kenney (Marion/River Valley) layup at the buzzer.
The home team continued its hot shooting, taking back the lead on a Chainey Zoiman jumper to make it 43-40 Quakers with 17:17 left in the game. Bluffton answered back and tied it at 49 when Zeddie Pollock (Mogodore) dialed long distance with under 15 minutes to play. Earlham took the lead back on the next score and stayed on top the rest of the way, securing the victory for the home squad.
Dezman Brown (Elyria) paced the Beavers with 20 points on a red-hot 8-of-10 shooting from the field, and he also dished out four assists on the night. Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) and Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) combined for 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the field. Renner also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Junior Ronnie James (Cleveland/Benedictine) doled out a team-best five dimes.
Bluffton hit 26-of-45 (57.8 percent) from the field, including 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from behind the arc. The visitors pulled down 33 rebounds compared to the home team's 16. Turnovers were the distance as Bluffton coughed it up a ridiculous 23 times, 11 more than the home team.
Bluffton will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 18, when they play host to conference foe Anderson University. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. following the women's game.
