On Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, the Bluffton University Beavers gave themselves an early Chrsitmas present and came out with a 62-50 victory over the Indiana University-Kokomo Cougars at the Sommer Center.

The Bluffton men improved to 3-6 on the season with the win, while the Cougars fell to 5-7 on the season. The Beavers were led by senior Dustin Kinn (Alvada/New Riegel) who scored 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting and grabbed nine boards in the victory.

The home team started quickly by getting out to a 7-2 lead. The Cougars responded with a 5-0 spurt to tie the game at the 16:11 mark. However, after two Kinn free throws and a layup, Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) knocked down a jumper, making the score 13-7.

Four straight Cougar points trimmed the lead to two. Bluffton responded with a 7-0 run thanks to a Nate Chambers (Miamisburg) jumper, a Ryan Ebbeskotte (Fort Jennings/Delphos Jefferson) three-ball and a Kinn layup at the 13:10 mark which made the score 20-11.

Chambers got to the rack and Josh Johnson (Ottawa-Glandorf) nailed a trifecta to get the Bluffton lead back to 10 points at the 9:02 mark. The Cougars would cut it to five again, but layups by Johnson and Tyler Neal (Bluffton) pushed the lead back up to nine.

IU-Kokomo opened the second half on another of their 5-0 spurts. However, that is when Dustin Kinn took over. He scored Bluffton's first 10 points of the second period. Layups by Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee) and Ebbeskotte made the score 48-36 at the 12:04 mark of the second half.

Not ready to gift wrap Bluffton's Christmas present, the Cougars battled to within a deuce following a jumper by Jared Lawrence with just over five minutes to play.

The home team sealed the deal, however, with a 10-0 run. After layups by Kinn and Fisher, Kinn added a couple free throws. Thayne Recker (Arlington) hit from in close and Fisher finished the game with a pair of freebies to make the final score 62-50.

The Beavers' key to victory was found on the boards, where they out-rebounded the Cougars 40-25, including 19 on the offensive glass which led to 21 second chance points. IU-Kokomo also had four more turnovers than Bluffton (17-13).

The Beavers were a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. This partially made up for their poor 4-of-20 (20 percent) shooting from beyond the arc.

The Beavers were led by Kinn’s 22 points, nine caroms and three assists. Josh Fisher added nine points and a career-high eight boards. Neal chipped in with seven points and three boards, while Recker tallied six markers and three rebounds.

Sophomore Ryan Ebbeskotte added career highs with five points and four rebounds, while freshman Nate Chambers finished with five points. The Cougars were led by Joby Renbarger who put up 14 points in a losing effort.

The Bluffton men will be back in action after a 10-day hiatus to celebrate the Christmas holiday.

They return to the Sommer Center on Friday, Dec. 28, host their own McDonald’s Holiday Tournament vs. Wright State University-Lake Campus at 8 p.m. The first game of the tournament is slated for 6 p.m. and it features #21 Ohio Wesleyan and Pitt-Greensburg.