The Bluffton University men's basketball team rode a seven-game February winning streak to a third straight berth in the Heartland Conference tournament.
The seven straight HCAC wins established a new school record and had the Beavers on the verge of their first-ever regular season championship heading into the final Saturday.
It marked the fifth time since 2011 that Head Coach Guy Neal has led Bluffton to at least 15 victories, including a school-record tying 18 in 2018-19.
The starting lineup will be without Andrew Renner for the first time in four years when the men hit the hardwood in 2020-21. Renner finished his career 15th on Bluffton's all-time scoring list with 1,232 points. He was named Second Team All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference in his junior year before moving up to First Team for his senior year.
Also lost to graduation were All-HCAC honorable mention selection Isaiah Taylor, Brevin Dye and Carter Kinnaird.
Guard play will again be a strength for the Beavers this season. Senior Dezman Brown (Elyria), the 2018-19 HCAC Defensive Player of the Year, earned Honorable Mention All-Heartland Conference honors as a junior. He led the team with 80 assists and 29 steals while dropping in 11.5 PPG. Brown locked down the opponent's top offensive threat on a nightly basis while playing over 34 minutes per game.
Junior Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) has been the starting point guard the past two seasons, putting up 12.6 PPG and 4.5 RPG as a sophomore.
Senior Aaron Rich (Greenville) has 61 starts on his resume, averaging 8.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG while hitting 55.2 percent (274-of-496) from the field.
Another senior guard also made big contributions down the stretch last season. Ronnie James (Cleveland/Benedictine) started 16 games and doled out 32 assists. Sophomore AJ Kenney (Marion/River Valley) saw action in 17 games last season, hitting 13-of-25 around the bucket while draining 9-of-10 at the charity stripe.
Bluffton's work on the defensive end was outstanding again in 2019-20. The Beavers allowed just 63.0 PPG, second-best in the Heartland Conference. Bluffton opponents struggled shooting the ball, hitting only 41.4 percent from the field which was the lowest field goal percentage in the HCAC!
With the Heartland Conference portion of the season slated to tip on Saturday, Jan. 16, the Beavers will play a condensed slate of non-league games prior to Christmas.
Bluffton heads to Manchester for a non-conference clash on Thursday, Nov. 12 and to Trine on Saturday, Nov. 14, before welcoming The Thunder for the home opener on Friday, Nov. 20. Adrian is in the Sommer Center on Saturday, Nov. 21, and then Bluffton returns the favor when it plays the Bulldogs on the road on Saturday, Dec. 12.
The Heartland Conference schedule is on the books for January and February with the conference tournament to follow the completion of the regular season.
