By: Whitney Warnecke, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Bluffton University men hosted Mount St. Joseph in another HCAC matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015. The Beavers suffered a loss to the Lions with a final score of 72-58. Following the setback, the Beavers fell to 6-6 overall with a 2-3 mark in the HCAC, while the Lions improved to 9-3 and are tied for first at 4-1 in the conference.
The start of the game was a struggle for the Beavers as the visitors went up 19-9 less than seven minutes in. Bluffton's shots were just not falling. However, at the other end Femi Thompson and Ken Kunkel capitalized on MSJ's Princeton offense, converting easy layups while scoring eight points each. With the Beavers having issues on the offensive end, the Lions opened a comfortable 39-25 margin at the break.
In the second half, the Beavers tried to make a comeback but MSJ would have none of it. Andrew Finley (Cincinnati/Walnut Hills) made the final score look respectable by drilling four trifectas in the final 2:18 of the contest. He finished a perfect 4-of-4 from distance for a career-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late as the visitors capped off a 72-58 win in the Sommer Center.
Junior Billy Taflinger (Lima/Central Catholic) was the other bright spot for Bluffton's offense, knocking down 7-of-9 from the field, including a triple, for 16 points to go along with a team-best six boards and four assists. Finley dished out six assists and pulled down four rebounds for the home team. Bluffton hit just 23-of-60 from the field (38.3 percent) compared to MSJ's 32-for-55 (58.2 percent). The visitors pulled down 12 more rebounds (37-25) and turned it over two more times (10-8).
The Beavers hit the road on Saturday, Jan. 10, for another HCAC clash against the Hanover College Panthers. Tip-off will be at 4 PM. Be sure to tune in for live stats to follow your Bluffton University Beavers!
-BEAVERS-