ANDERSON, Ind. - The Bluffton Beavers traveled west to face off against the Anderson Ravens in close HCAC battle. While the game would be a close battle, Anderson would pull away with the victory over Bluffton in a final score of 83-74. With the loss, the Beavers fall to a record of 3-9 overall and 1-4 in conference play while the Ravens improve to 6-7 with a 3-2 mark in the HCAC.
Bluffton started the contest off strong, going on a 7-0 run that included an Andre Irvin (Lewis Center, Ohio / Olentangy Orange) triple and Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky./Dixie Heights) and Nevin Robson (Kenton/Hardin Northern) layups. Anderson would respond and find their footing, going on a 15-8 run to even up the game at 15-15 with 13:16 left in the half. Bluffton would fall behind 20-17, but five straight points from Justice Thompson (Ashland/Crestview) would allow the visitors to retake the lead at 22-20 with under 10 minutes to play in the first. The lead would be short-lived as the Ravens would close out the half outscoring the Beavers 23-12 as the home team would lead at the break, 43-34.
The two teams would come out of the second half exchanging buckets, and after Anderson was able to stretch their lead to 13, a jumper from Nevin Robson and a throwdown from JD Stokes (West Harrison, Ind./Franklin County) would cut the deficit to single digits at 51-42. Bluffton's run would continue as they would go on a 6-1 run that was capped off with an Ian Snelling layup with 14:04 left in regulation, bringing the score to 52-48. The Ravens would then answer with a run of their own, going on an 11-3 run over the next four minutes until Andre Irvin would knock down a three with 10:20 left on the clock as Bluffton trailed 63-54. The Beavers were unable to make it a one possession game, as Anderson would hold their lead for the remainder of the contest, coming away with an 83-74 victory on their home court.
Leading the Beavers in scoring was Andre Irvin, netting 22 in the contest and going 4-for-6 from behind the arc while snagging three rebounds a dishing out a pair of assists. Nevin Robson would add 16 to go along with seven rebounds as JD Stokes scored 13 with six boards. Tallying highs in steals with three and rebounds with nine, Ian Snelling would score nine to go along with three assists. Rounding out the double-digit scoring was Justice Thompson with 10 points off the bench.
Bluffton would come out with a better percentage from the floor, shooting 45.6 percent (31-of-68) and holding Anderson to 44.6 percent (29-of-65) for the game. The Ravens did manage to be more efficient from deep, hitting 12-of-37 (32.4 percent) of their shots from behind the arc, while the Beavers would knock down only 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) of their threes in the contest. The hosts would just narrowly win the rebounding battle 40-38, as Bluffton would hold a 16-9 advantage in second chance points. The stingy Raven defense picked away 21 Beaver turnovers, but the visitors would outscore Anderson 15-14 in points off turnovers. While Bluffton dominated the post, outscoring the Ravens 46-34, Anderson would get more contribution from the bench, with a 29-16 advantage from their reserves.
The road trip for the Beavers will come to an end as they get set to travel back home to Copeland Court on Saturday, Jan. 10, when they host the Franklin Grizzlies with a 4 p.m. tipoff.
-BEAVERS-