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Setting the scene
Bluffton College hosts Franklin College on Wednesday night in a Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball contest. The Beavers have two more home games on their schedule this season, including Wednesday night vs. the Grizzlies and next Wednesday vs. Defiance. BC will be on the road Saturday at Transylvania (live webcast available), but first will have their sights set on avenging a 94-82 loss to the Grizzlies on Jan. 2 in Indiana.
Happy Birthday Founders Hall
February 5 marks the 50th anniversary of the first game ever played in Founders Hall. Bluffton defeated Ashland 61-59 in overtime in that first game, and has won 282 of 541 games played here in the last 50 seasons for a winning percentage of 52.1%.
HCAC tourney bracket up in the air
Just two weeks remain in the regular season, but seedings for the HCAC tournament are, as usual, far from being decided. Bluffton will hit the road for their first round game, while Franklin is still in the hunt to host a first round HCAC tourney contest. The Grizzlies’ remaining four games are all crucial ones, including Saturday against Anderson and next Wednesday against Manchester.
The series
Franklin leads the all-time series 7-3, which dates back to the 1996-97 season. The Grizzlies won the first four meetings with Bluffton, but the series is tied 3-3 over the last three seasons.
The coaches
Bluffton is led by 13th-year head coach Guy Neal, who ranks fourth on the BC all-time wins list with 133 victories. Franklin is led by Head Coach Kerry Prather, who is in his 19th season at Franklin and owns a 304-200 record. On Jan. 2 he won his 300th career game as Franklin defeated Bluffton 94-82.
Season records
Bluffton reached the .500 mark in late December with a 6-6 overall record, but the Beavers have seen their record slip to 8-13 overall and 1-10 in the HCAC.
Franklin started off the season 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the HCAC, but dropped four straight HCAC games in mid-January. The Grizzlies have turned things around, however, to win three of their last four games to bring an overall record of 13-8 and a 4-6 mark in the HCAC into Wednesday night's game.
Last game
Bluffton is coming off a 100-78 loss at Anderson on Saturday. The Beavers tied the score at 48-48 early in the second half, but then saw Anderson go on a 19-0 run to take control of the game. Derek DeNero led Bluffton with 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while Rod Overmyer added 15 points and Michael Kingsley chipped in 13.
Franklin is coming off a 94-82 win over non-conference foe Thomas More on Saturday as the Grizzlies attempted a school-record 69 free throws in the game, converting on 48 of them. Their attempts were five shy of the NCAA Division III record, while their 48 conversions were only two away from a new national record. Jake Sappenfield led Franklin with 23 points and Scott Study added 20.
BC vs. FC earlier this season
Bluffton hit a season-high 10 3-pointers, but Franklin shot 68% from the floor in the second half en route to a 94-82 win over the Beavers in Franklin, Indiana on Jan. 2. BC led 52-50 with 16:24 left in the game, but the Grizzlies went on a 12-3 run at that point to take the lead for good. Franklin took a lopsided advantage at the free throw line, converting on 19-of-26 attempts, while Bluffton was 8-for-10.
BC’s Rod Overmyer tied a career-high with seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 27 points, while Derek DeNero added 20 points. Franklin’s Jed Zarse scored 27 points (his career high) to share game high honors with Overmyer. The Grizzlies shot 57% from the floor in the game and committed just seven turnovers as Franklin Head Coach Kerry Prather won his 300th career game. Bluffton didn’t collect a single steal or blocked shot in the game.
Experience edge goes to Grizzlies
Bluffton said goodbye to seven of their top nine scorers from last season’s 16-9 squad, which finished 6-6 in the HCAC. Franklin, however, returns all five starters from last year’s team that finished 13-12 overall and 5-7 in the HCAC. Last year the Grizzlies saw their streak of three straight trips to the NCAA tournament halted as five new starters gained experience.
Bluffton leaders
Bluffton owns three of the top four scorers in the HCAC, including Rod Overmyer (1st, 18.1 ppg), Mike Leimeister (2nd 15.7 ppg) and Derek DeNero (4th 15.4 ppg). Overmyer, a first team All-HCAC selection last season, leads the league in 3-pointers made (52), ranks 10th in free throw percentage (80.0%) and 11th in rebounding 5.0 rpg). Leimeister ranks 3rd in field goal shooting (56.7%), 4th in free throw shooting (83.9%) and 5th in rebounding (6.1 rpg). DeNero ranks 3rd in rebounding (7.0 rpg), 6th in steals (1.6 spg) and 9th in free throw shooting (80.6%).
In addition, Marcus Bixler leads the HCAC in assists (5.4 apg), while ranking 5th in steals (1.7 spg) and 7th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5).
Franklin leaders
Seniors Jake Sappenfield (15.3 ppg) and Josh Quattrocchi (15.2 ppg) rank 5th and 6th, respectively in the HCAC in scoring. Sappenfield was a first team All-HCAC selection last season, while Quattrocchi ranks 2nd in field goal shooting (61.1%), 4th in blocked shots (.8 bpg), 7th in free throw percentage (81.6%) and 8th in rebounding (5.5 rpg). Scott Study, last year’s HCAC Freshman of the Year, ranks 13th in scoring (13.2 ppg), 3rd in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.9), 4th in 3-pointers made per game (1.9) and 6th in assists (3.2 apg).
The Grizzlies also own the HCAC’s top shot blocker in 6-8 center Jed Zarse (1.1 bpg), who ranks 6th in rebounding (5.8 rpg). He is averaging 15.2 points per game against conference opponents this season (5th in HCAC).
Statistical matchups
Bluffton and Franklin are two of the top shooting teams in the HCAC. The Grizzlies rank first in field goal shooting (48.4%), first in 3-point shooting (38.7%) and third in free throw shooting (74.9%), while Bluffton ranks 3rd in field goal shooting (45.6%), 4th in 3-point shooting (36.1%) and 2nd in free throw shooting (75.2%). In HCAC games, the Beavers climb to #1 from the free throw line, shooting 77.4%. Franklin has an overall scoring margin of +5.1, but in HCAC games that margin drops to -1.7. Both teams have an identical -1.3 rebounding margin against conference opponents.
Franklin hot shooting nothing new
It’s no surprise that Franklin is among the league leaders in shooting this season. The Grizzlies led the nation in team free throw shooting last season (79.9%) and ranked 9th in overall field goal shooting (49.6%) and 7th in 3-point shooting (40.0%).
HCAC POWs plentiful here tonight
12 HCAC Player of the Week honors have been handed out so far this season, and five honorees will be in action in Founders Hall tonight. Bluffton players have received the honor three times (Mike Leimeister twice, Derek DeNero once), while two Franklin players have earned the award (Jed Zarse and Josh Quattrocchi).
3-point streak continues
Bluffton has made at least one 3-point field goal in 237 consecutive games. The last time BC didn’t make a 3-pointer was Jan. 6, 1993 against Adrian College when BC was 0-1 from behind the arc.
Overmyer, DeNero history vs. FC
Bluffton’s Rod Overmyer has averaged 25.5 points in his last two outings against Franklin. In five career games he is averaging 16.4 ppg. Derek DeNero has also seen action in five games against Franklin, averaging 6.4 ppg.
Overmyer moving up
Bluffton senior Rod Overmyer now ranks third on the BC career 3-pointers list with 163.
Around the HCAC
Also on the HCAC schedule Wednesday night, Manchester hosts Defiance and Hanover hosts Transylvania. In non-conference action, Anderson hosts IU-Northwest and Mount St. Joseph hosts Thomas More
