By: Colton Steiner
BLUFFTON, Ohio - With an aggressive winter storm heading in, the Bluffton Beavers would bump up the start time as they would host the Hanover Panthers in an exciting HCAC battle. After a close first half, the Beavers would outscore the Panthers by 10 in the second half as they would hand Hanover an 84-75 loss. With the win, it marks the third consecutive season where Bluffton has beat Hanover on their home court. The Beavers now sit at a record of 7-11 overall with a 5-6 record in conference play, with the Panthers falling to 11-7 on the season while moving to 7-4 in the HCAC.
Jaxon Foster (Lima, Ohio / Bath) would open up the game for Bluffton, hitting back-to-back triples as the Beavers would go up 6-5 three minutes into the contest. It was an offensive battle as the two teams would trade buckets, and after the Beavers hit four straight threes, they would hold a 26-16 lead at the 10:21 mark of the first half. After Andre Irvin (Lewis Center, Ohio / Olentangy Orange) would connect from behind the arc and William Layfield (West Chester, Ohio / Lakota West) would go 2-for-2 from the charity stripe, the home team would hold a 35-23 lead with 7:45 left till the break. Despite the lead, the Panthers would claw back into the game, outscoring the Beavers 17-4 in the final 7:21 to hold a 40-39 lead at the half.
Hanover would jump ahead to start the second half going on an 8-0 run in the first 1:09 before a tip-in from JD Stokes (West Harrison, Ind. / Franklin County) put Bluffton on the board in the second half to cut the deficit to 48-41. The Beaver offense would find it's rhythm, going on an 15-3 run, and after an old fashioned three-point play from Nevin Robson (Kenton, Ohio / Hardin Northern), the hosts would hold a 57-51 lead with 11:10 left in regulation. Bluffton managed to hold a solid lead for most of the several minutes, and even after a three-point play from Hanover that cut the lead to five, layups from Jaxon Foster and Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky. / Dixie Heights) put Bluffton up front 77-68 with one minute left in the contest. Despite some late buckets from the visitors, the Beavers would finish the game going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe as they would come out on top 84-75.
Leading the Beavers in scoring with 20 points and four assists was Andre Irvin, with Nevin Robson right behind him tallying 19 and nine boards. Jaxon Foster would knock home 4-of-5 of his shots from behind the arc as he finished the contest with 14 points. JD Stokes would add 13 to go along with eight rebounds and a pair of assists, while Ian Snelling rounded out the double-digit scoring with 11 while adding nine boards and four assists.
It was a nearly identical contest in shooting, with Bluffton going 27-of-64 (42.2 percent) and Hanover going 27-of-63 (42.9 percent). Hanover did manage to hit more threes, knocking home 9-of-34 (26.5 percent) of their attempts from deep, while the Beavers finished the contest with a 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) mark from behind the arc. Bluffton was all over the glass, holding a 45-35 edge while outscoring the Panthers in second chance points 18-7. While Hanover got more production from their bench with a 20-7 advatage, the home team would push the ball down the court and outscore the visitors 17-2 in fastbreak points.
The Beavers will look to ride the momentum from this win into their next contest when they host Manchester on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at home, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. Come out and support your Beavers!
-Beavers-