Three familiar faces secured All-Heartland Conference recognition when the HCAC handed out its post-season hardware on Wedneday, March 4. Headlining the Bluffton selections was senior Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) who is the first Beaver to be named First Team All-HCAC since 2016-17 when Austin Rohde was honored. Isaiah Taylor (Yellow Springs) and Dezman Brown (Elyria) both notched Honorable Mention acclaim following the 2019-20 campaign.
Renner capped off his prolific career at number 15 on the career scoring list with 1,232 points despite missing 18 games due to injuries as a freshman. He bucketed 14.5 PPG during his time as a Beaver. His 143 made triples are 9th all-time while his 405 attempts place him 6th at Bluffton. Renner ended up 16th in free throw percentage (.796), going 215-of-270. He is tied for 10th all-time with 105 career steals. Renner also ripped down 499 rebounds for his career (5.9 RPG).
It marked the third straight year that Renner has been an All-Heartland Conference performer. He was an Honorable Mention selection as a sophomore before being named Second Team All-HCAC last season. Renner was 2nd in the conference with 17.3 PPG, while his 6.5 RPG were 8th in the HCAC. He hit 163-of-368 (.443) from the field, including 45-of-132 (.341) from distance. His 67 assists, 15 blocks and 28 steals were all 2nd on the team.
Renner was named HCAC Player of the Week after putting up 27.0 PPG in wins over Manchester and Hanover late in the season, including a career-high 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting, as the Beavers downed Hanover for their 6th straight victory. He was a ballistic 4-of-5 from three-point land with a 35+ footer at the buzzer which sent it to overtime in Bluffton's 76-72 win over Hanover.
Brown followed up his Defensive Player of the Year campaign by being named Honorable Mention All-HCAC. He led the team with 80 assists and 29 steals while dropping in 11.5 PPG. The junior hit 35-of-43 (.814) at the stripe and 113-of-266 (.425) from the field. He locked down the opponent's top offensive threat on a nightly basis while playing over 34 minutes per game.
For the second straight season, Taylor has been tabbed Honorable Mention All-Heartland Conference. He was outstanding at the line, hitting 43-of-52 (.827). Taylor pulled down 5.2 RPG (2nd on the team) and blocked a team-high 20 shots. He was adept passer out of the post, dishing out 59 assists (3rd on the team).
Bluffton won a school-record seven straight Heartland Conference games during round two of HCAC play, securing the number four seed in the HCAC Tournament. It marked the 3rd straight trip to the HCAC tourney for the Bluffton men. Check out the updated record books on the website in the upcoming days.
