Bluffton men's and women's basketball teams both earned wins over Manchester on Wednesday. The game results follow:
Women's game
The Bluffton University women's basketball team welcomed Manchester University to the Sommer Center on a snowy Wednesday, Feb. 12.
The Beavers were able to pull away late in the fourth for a 65-58 victory. Bluffton improved to 12-10 (6-9 HCAC) while the Spartans fell to 8-14 (5-10 HCAC).
Manchester controlled the tip and took an early 5-0 lead. Brianna Gillig (New Riegel) hit the first bucket for the home team followed by a freebie and a Tj Mills (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) layin which tied the score up at five apiece. A Sammy Shardo (Findlay/Liberty-Benton) trifecta gave the Beavers a 10-7 lead, but a 4-0 run for the Spartans gave the visitors an 11-10 advantage at the end of the first.
Mills set the tone for the second quarter with two buckets in the paint and a charity shot to push the Beavers ahead, 15-13. A Kylie Brock (Villa Hills, KY/Dixie Heights) shot from deep increased the Bluffton lead to four (18-14). Senior Dj Keesey (Cadiz/Harrison Central) would drop in two buckets of her own to give the home team a 24-19 lead, however, a Spartan layup and triple at the buzzer knotted the score at 24 going into the break.
A five-point run for Manchester had them up 29-24 in the beginning of the third until Abbie Parkins (Bluffton) hit a shot from outside the arc followed by a Nora Hemminger (McComb) tip-in and freebie to put the Beavers on top 30-29. Mills added two layups to push the score to 41-38 but a three-point shot from the Spartans would tie it back up at 41. Gillig dropped a deuce to give the good guys a 43-42 advantage going into the final quarter.
Back-to-back shots in the paint from Gillig and Mills pushed the Beaver spread to 47-42. It was then the battle of threes as Manchester pulled within one before Hemminger answered right back with a triple of her own to make the score 54-50 in favor of Bluffton. Another trifecta for the Spartans would give them a lead, but it was short lived as Parkins again dialed long distance to put the Beavers back on top, 57-55. A layup and six straight foul shots for Bluffton helped secure the 65-58 victory.
Mills led the Beaver offense with 20 points. Gillig tallied 13 markers while also leading the defense with a career-high tying 15 rebounds for her eighth career double-double. Parkins and Hemminger picked up nine and eight points, respectively. Emma Saltzman (Arcadia) pulled down seven boards with Mills ripping down six.
Both teams struggled offensively as Bluffton connected on just 24-of-74 (32.4 percent) field goals and 5-of-29 (17.2 percent) from deep. Manchester hit 20-of-58 (34.5 percent) shots, but nailed 8-of-20 (40 percent) from beyond the arc. The Beavers drained 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe while the Spartans only hit 10-of-19 (52.6 percent). The home team pulled down nine more rebounds (52-43) and coughed the ball up six fewer times (17-11). The Beavers also put up 34 points in the paint compared to Manchester's 14.
The women are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 15, when Hanover comes to town. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m., following the men's game at 1 p.m. Saturday is also Alumni Day for the men, 2020 Hall of Fame inductions and Beaver Reveal.
Men's game
The Bluffton University men's basketball team traveled to Manchester University to take on the Spartans in a mid-week Heartland Conference clash on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
It was all Bluffton from the get go as they held the home team to just 11.1 percent (2-of-18) from the field during the first half as the Beavers allowed a modern-era low eight points through the first 20 minutes! Bluffton improved to 13-9 overall and 9-6 in the HCAC following a fifth straight victory, while Manchester fell to 8-14 and 6-9 in conference play.
The visitors went out to an early 11-0 lead when Carter Kinnaird (Lewis Center/Olentangy) knocked down a jumper with 10:12 left to play in the first half. The Spartans would finally get on the board when Matthew Westman hit from distance to make it 11-3 with 9:02 left on the clock, a scoreless span of nearly 11 minutes to start the game. Kinnaird would drill a three with 3:29 left in the half to make it 27-8, giving the visitors a comfortable 19-point lead going into the break.
After shooting just 11 percent in the first half, the home team would start to find the bottom of the net with more regularity in the second stanza. But, the Beavers continued their hot shooting as they extended the lead to 23 when Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) drained a three ball off of an Aaron Rich (Greenville) offensive board to make the score 42-19 with just under 15 minutes to play.
The Spartans would not go away despite the large deficit and the home team clawed back, cutting it to 10 (42-32) when CJ Hampton split a pair of free throws with 6:24 left in the contest. Despite the comeback bid by Manchester, Bluffton was able to hold on to secure the 55-42 win on the road.
Renner led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-15 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. He also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds in the win. Dezman Brown (Elyria) dropped in 14 points on 4-of-13 from the field, going a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. He also dished out a team-high four assists.
Bluffton hit 18-of-49 (36.7 percent) from the field, including 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from distance. The visitors pulled down 32 rebounds, one more than the home squad. Manchester coughed it up 21 times, compared to just 14 miscues for the Beavers.
