March 1, 2016

All-Heartland Conference release

BLUFFTON, Ohio - Bluffton senior Thayne Recker (Arlington) added another First Team All-Heartland Conference award into his already overflowing trophy case when the All-HCAC men’s basketball team was announced on Tuesday. It marks the second straight season that Recker earned First Team All-HCAC honors. He is just the fifth Beaver and the first since Scott Bergman in 2005-06 to collect consecutive First Team All-HCAC honors. Joining Recker as an All-Heartland honoree is Austin Rohde (Shelby) who earned Second Team honors following his breakout junior campaign.

A two-time HCAC Player of the Week as a senior, Recker finished second in the conference with 20.3 PPG and 8.6 RPG. His 507 points this year are 14th all-time for a single season. His 55.6 FG percentage was eighth in the conference while Recker's 154 makes at the charity stripe are third all-time, giving him two of the top three spots (178) for free throws. He hit 77.4 percent from the line, dished out 48 assists and blocked 20 shots this season.

As a junior, Recker was named the USBWA’s National Player of the Week following his 53 points in Bluffton’s 103-102 triple overtime                           victory over Hanover College. The 53 points was an HCAC and Bluffton record for points in a game, as well as the most points scored in a game by a Division III player in 2014-15. Recker was also named to the D3Hoops.com team of the week twice and was HCAC Player of the Week three times as a junior. Following Bluffton's magical tourney run, Recker was named to the HCAC All-Tournament team after averaging 26.3 points and 10 boards per game in leading the Beavers to their first ever HCAC title game. He was a Second Team All-Great Lakes Region selection last season before being named a pre-season All-American this year.

Recker finished off his decorated career as the #5 leading scorer all-time with 1,613 points as a Beaver. He shattered the career free throws made mark of 424 by Mark Froning (1965-68) with 465 conversions at the line and his 610 attempts equaled him with Pete DuMonte (1984-87) for the most-ever free throw attempts in Bluffton history. His 777 career boards are seventh all-time and they helped him become the 11th player in Bluffton's history to go for 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. He is just the fourth Beaver to finish with at least 1,600 points and 750 boards. Recker hit double figures in each contest as a senior, giving him 37 straight games of at least 10 points to end his career.

Austin Rohde's ability to spread the defenses with his deft outside touch opened up driving lanes which he was equally excited to see. It all added up to 17.7 PPG (4th in the HCAC), second to just Thayne Recker for the Beavers. He was deadly from distance, knocking down 45.9 percent (50-of-109) for third in the Heartland Conference. His 51.1 FG (160-313) percentage on all shots was 13th in the HCAC. Rohde was second to Billy Taflinger (Lima/Central Catholic) with 58 assists and he also was second to Jared Wentling (Carey) with 30 steals. An outstanding free throw shooter as well, Rohde went 73-of-89 (82.0 percent) at the stripe. Rohde is already at #49 on the all-time scoring list with 767 points heading into his senior campaign.

Bluffton senior Mitchel HUFFMAN (Jeromesville/Hillsdale) was also recognized by the HCAC by being placed on the All-Conference Sportsmanship team for the 2015-16 season. The award has been developed as part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-HCAC Sportsmanship team are selected by the coaches and their teammates as individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the court.

-BEAVERS-