On November 20, Miami-Hamilton clamped down on the Beavers in a 56-41 win over the Bluffton University men's basketball. Bluffton slipped to 0-3 on the season, while the Harriers stayed perfect at 7-0.
Bluffton jumped out to a 15-10 lead at the 11:41 mark on the strength of consecutive Miguel Ringer deuces to open the game and nine points from Jameel Cosby (Springfield/Kenton Ridge). A 10-0 Hamilton run made it 20-15 with 8:05 to play in the opening half. Chad Frey (Lima/Bath) responded with a jumper and Cosby drained two free throws to make it a one-point game at the seven-minute mark.
The visitors pushed it to an eight-point spread before Ringer converted an old-fashioned three-point play, making it 27-22. Ethan Stearns (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) took a nice feed from Michael Stammen (Versailles) to the rack and Stammen found Cosby for another bucket with 35 seconds left in the half as Bluffton trailed 34-28 at the break.
Back-to-back Mike Ketner (Minster) triples made it 42-37 Hamilton with 13:13 to play, but Bluffton managed just four more points, all from Ringer, over the final 13 minutes as Miami-Hamilton wrapped up a 56-41 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Ringer and Cosby led the Beavers with 15 and 13 points, respectively. The 15 markers were a career-high for Ringer. They both finished with double-doubles as Ringer ripped down a career-best 11 rebounds and Cosby added 10 caroms. Stearns and Frey both dished out three assists for the home team. Cosby and Ringer added two steals apiece.
Bluffton hit just 17-of-58 (29.3 percent) from the field, including a porous 3-for-25 (12 percent) from distance. The Beavers pulled down four more rebounds (39-35), but they also turned it over four more times (17-13).
Bluffton will be back in the Sommer Center on Saturday, Nov. 27, when the Beavers welcome Hiram College under the direction of Bluffton alums Taylor Roth and Kevin Christie! Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
