By Mallory Kemper, sports information intern

The Bluffton University men's basketball team defeated the Defiance College Yellow Jackets in HCAC action when Mychal Hill (London/Jon. Alder) chased down his own miss at the end of the shot clock and sank a fade-away from the wing with 0.8 left to pick up a 57-55 win over Defiance on Wednesday, January 19, at the Weaner Center. The Beavers are 5-4 in the HCAC and 12-4 overall, while Defiance fell to 5-4 in the HCAC and 10-6 overall.

Seven minutes into the game, freshman Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee) gave Bluffton a four-point lead with his layin. Less than a minute later a Pope dunk sparked the crowd, giving the Beavers a 15-12 advantage with 12:09 left in the opening half.

However, the Yellow Jackets connected with a jumper from Ryan Hicks and a Logan Wolfrum trifecta to put Defiance ahead, 21-18, at the 8:50 mark.

At the 5:51 mark, Hicks drilled another jumper and a steal from Brandon Campbell turned into a layin which put the home team up by nine with five minutes to play in the first half.

A 6-0 run by the Beavers, including a Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) layup and a couple of foul shots from Pope made the score 30-29 Defiance at the break.

The teams came out of the half playing even as they traded points over the first 11 minutes. At the 9:07 mark, Hicks connected on a jumper while Wolfrum sank a triple. Campbell converted a couple of shots from the charity stripe to put Defiance ahead, 50-45, with 6:21 to play.

Hill made a triple to cut the deficit to three, but a Wolfrum hoop and harm kept Defiance in the lead. With 2:54 left in the game, Nick Lee (Mt. Blanchard/Vanlue) was sent to the charity stripe where he buried a couple free throws. A block by Brent Farley gave Bluffton the ball (Lima/Shawnee) before Pope converted a chip shot at the 2:01 mark to pull the Beavers within one.

With 45 seconds left in the game Defiance and Bluffton were tied, but Hill's buzzer-beater finished off the 57-55 Beaver win.

Leading the way in the scoring column for Bluffton was freshman Will Pope with 23 points, hitting 9-of-13 from the floor. Mychal Hill followed with 11 points and three steals. Brent Farley finished with 11 boards. The Yellow Jackets were led by Logan Wolfrum with 21 points, four assists, three blocks and two steals. Ryan Hicks added 14 points, with 10 rebounds and two blocks. Anthony Brown chipped in with 10 counters and four rebounds.

The Beavers hit 21-of-55 (38.2 percent) and the Yellow Jackets made 21-of-49 (42.9 percent) from the field. Bluffton pulled down three more rebounds (36-33) and forced three more turnovers (19-16).

The Bluffton University men's basketball team will travel to Transylvania on January 22 to face the Pioneers in another HCAC matchup. The contest is slated to begin at 4 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky.