By Josh Bruner, sports information assistant
The Bluffton University men's basketball team hosted OSU-Lima on Friday, December 17. The Beavers started out strong, doubling up on Barons in the first half 60-29. Bluffton continued to dominate in the second half, pulling away for a 118-57 victory which just missed the school record of 120 set against Giffin in 1960-61. The Beavers jumped to 6-3 overall, while the Barons fell to 7-6.
The Beavers started the night hot with Nick Lee (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) draining a jumper to open the game. The Barons responded with a three-pointer from Keith Win Jr. The Beavers slowly started to pull away as they took a 10-point lead after a Tyler Neal (Bluffton) three-ball with 13 minutes left in the half.
OSU-Lima struck back with another triple, this time from Lemar Pughsley to cut the deficit to single digits, 19-12. The Beavers once again pulled ahead by double digits, taking a 13-point advantage following a Mychal Hill (London/Jon. Alder) layup at the 10-minute mark.
With Bluffton maintaining a 31-18 advantage at the 8:23 mark, the Beavers took off on a 15-3 run. The home team led 46-21 after a Scott Schnipke (Kalida) trifecta with five and a half minutes remaining in the period.
OSU-Lima could not stop the hot Beavers for the rest of the half as Bluffton pulled away for a 33-point cushion after a Dustin Kinn (Alvada/New Riegel) layup with one minute left in the period. The Barons added two Win free throws to make the score 60-29 at the break.
The Beavers did not miss a beat to start the second half as they continued to put up points in bunches. Bluffton added eight counters in the first two minutes while holding OSU-Lima scoreless. The Barons added a deuce from Brady Schroeder two and a half minutes into the stanza.
Bluffton once again took control as they pulled ahead by 46 at the 15:25 mark thanks to a chip shot from freshman Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee). Pughsley countered with a three following the Pope layup to make the score 77-34 with 15:13 left in the game.
The Beavers seemed to score each time down the floor as they went ahead by 50 with 12 minutes left in the game after another Pope layup. Bluffton crossed into triple digits after a Nate Heckelman (Norwalk) three which gave the Beavers a 102-47 lead.
The Beavers continued to dominate the game as they moved ahead 106-47 following two Schnipke free throws at the four-minute mark. Bluffton opened its largest lead of the night (64 points) with a Jonathan Fowler (Cincinnati/St. Xavier) layup from Matt Weisenborn (Tontogany/Otsego) at the one-minute mark.
The Beavers maintained the large lead as a Cam Saylor (Belle Center/Ben Logan) three ended the scoring with Bluffton picking up the 118-57 win.
Bluffton put seven players in double digits, led by Pope with 18 points and eight boards. Lee added 15 for the Beavers while grabbing four steals. Rob Luderman (Defiance/Ayersville) chipped in with 12 points. Hill, Saylor, and Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) added 11 each. Hill dished out five assists for the game. The Barons were led by Win with 22 counters, followed by Pughsley with 11 and Matthew Sanders with seven.
The Beavers hit an outstanding 44-of-71 (62 percent), while the Barons made just 20-of-64 (31.3 percent) from the field. The Beavers drilled 11 from behind the arc. Bluffton proved more efficient from the charity stripe, hitting 19-of-26 (73.1 percent), while OSU-Lima finished 10-for-16 (62.5 percent). The Beavers pulled down 49 boards for the game, 21 more than the Barons.
The Bluffton University men's basketball team will pick up action again on Wednesday, December 29, when it hosts the McDonald's Holiday Tournament in Founders Hall. The Beavers play the nightcap against Wright-State Lake, following the Pittsburgh at Greensburg and Westminster contest which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
