By: Colton Steiner
FRANKLIN, Ind. – After knocking off the Franklin Grizzlies on their home court 84-74 earlier in the season, the Bluffton Beavers hit the road go up against the Grizzlies for the last time of the regular season. Franklin would grab a double-digit lead, and while they would hold that lead for most of the contest, a late second half surge from the Beavers allowed them to make it an interesting ball game. While they were able to cut the lead to four, they would be unable to force a comeback as Bluffton would come away with the loss in a final score of 55-66. The Beavers now sit at a record of 8-12 overall and drop to 6-7 in the HCAC, while the Grizzlies improve to 13-7 and 9-4 in conference play.
Bluffton would get off to a solid start, going up 5-3 following a JD Stokes (West Harrison, Ind. / Franklin County) layup and a Jaxon Foster (Lima, Ohio / Bath) triple. Despite the early lead to start the game, Franklin would outscore the visitors 12-5, extending their lead to two possessions until a William Layfield (West Chester, Ohio / Lakota West) layup cut the deficit to three, with the Beavers trailing 15-12 with 13:26 left. While Bluffton managed to hold the Grizzlies to a four point lead after a pair of Andre Irvin (Lewis Center, Ohio / Olentangy Orange) free throws, a 16-6 spurt from the home team put them up 38-24 with 5:48 left in the half. The two teams would exchange buckets for the remainder of the half, with Franklin holding a 45-33 at the break.
Coming out of the half, the Beavers were able to cut the deficit to nine after an old-fashioned three-point play from Nevin Robson (Kenton, Ohio / Hardin Northern) made it 49-40 at the 17:28 mark of the second half. While they managed to cut the deficit to single digits, the Grizzlies would claw their lead back to double digits and hold a multiple possession lead for the next several minutes. Trailing 68-54, Bluffton would find their footing on offense and after a pair of Nevin Robson free throws, a 14-4 run from the visitors made it a four-point game. Despite cutting down the lead significantly, they would be unable to complete the comeback as Franklin pulled away with a 95-83 win on their home court.
Netting a team-high 19 points was Nevin Robson, who dished out three assists and snagged five boards, while going a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. William Layfield would come off the bench and score 18 on an efficient 8-of-11 from the floor. Scoring 16 in the outing was JD Stokes, with Andre Irving rounding out the double-digit scoring with 15. Ian Snelling (Erlanger, Ky. / Dixie Heights) would record nine, while also leading the team with six boards and three dimes.
Despite Bluffton's impressive 50.9 percent (28-of-55) shooting from the floor, they would be unable to stop the Franklin offense who knocked down 31-of-55 (56.4 percent) of their shots from the floor. Both teams would get a lot of action from the foul line, with the Beavers hitting 25-of-35 (71.4 percent) free throws, while the Grizzlies would convert on 24-of-30 (80.0 percent) of their attempts. While the hosts would win the battle of the boards with a 32-27 advantage, Bluffton would dominate the paint, outscoring Franklin 50-40.
The Beavers will look to regroup from this loss as they travel to face off against Earlham College on Wednesday, Feb. 4 with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. Earlier in the season, the Beavers came away with a thrilling 96-87 win over the Quakers on their home court, with their eyes set on winning the season series.