By Jordan Marbaugh

The Bluffton University men’s basketball team fell short of the conference tournament after a tough loss at Transylvania University on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013.

The Beavers finished the season 11-14 and 7-11 in Heartland Conference. Transylvania improved to 19-6 and 14-4 in HCAC. The Pioneers will play Mount St. Joseph in the first round of the HCAC tournament next Friday, Feb. 22.

The first half was a back and forth battle to start as Transylvania led 7-6 after two free throws by senior Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) with 16:22 left. Transylvania then went on a 10-2 run to push the lead to 17-8 with 13:11 to play in first half.

Bluffton battled back and after a layup by Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee), trailed just 30-28 at the 6:48 mark. A three by Fisher with 2:55 on the clock gave the Beavers a 39-35 lead.

The teams traded points as Bluffton took a 44-40 lead into the halftime break. Pope dropped in 16 points during the first 20 minutes of action.

The visitors opened the second half with a quick 5-0 spurt to push the lead to 49-40 with 19:22 left. A three by Fisher with 15:42 left pushed the Bluffton lead to 56-45. Transylvania answered with a 17-3 run to take a 62-59 lead with 11:08 remaining. With 6:35 to go, the Transylvania lead stood at 70-65.

Fisher turned it around with a three to cut it to 70-68 with six minutes left. The senior standout followed with a jumper which tied the score at 70 a minute and a half later.

Transylvania then used a five-point possession to take control of the game. Tommy Sirkin drilled a three while Ethan Spurlin was fouled at the 2:44 mark.

Spurlin cashed in with two makes at the line and the home team held off the Beavers for an 81-74 victory.

Josh Fisher played like it was his last game as he led the Beavers with 26 points and grabbed five rebounds. Will Pope came up big once again with 20 points and seven boards. Dustin Kinn added 14 points and pulled down six boards.

Bluffton was superb from the field, hitting 24-of-43 for 55.8 percent, including 4-of-6 outside the arc. The Beavers also made 20-of-27 free throws for 74.1 percent.

Turnovers proved to be the difference as Bluffton coughed it up nine more times (20-11).

A victory over Transy would not have been enough to get the Beavers into the tourney as Mount St. Joseph's win over Anderson gave the Lions the sixth seed in the upcoming HCAC tournament.

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