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Bluffton College led for the entire first half, but Hanover College opened the second half with a 29-7 run and went on to take a 74-59 win over the Beavers in Founders Hall Saturday afternoon.
Bluffton, now 8-10 overall and 2-6 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, led by as many as 11 points in the first half but was held to a 32.1% shooting effort in the second half as Hanover improves to 17-1 overall and 7-1 in the HCAC.
Bluffton sees their two-game HCAC win streak halted, while Hanover wins its sixth game in a row.
Hanover, the number one ranked defense in the HCAC, held Bluffton senior Mike Leimeister to 12 points, which was half of his normal output. Leimeister entered the game as the league’s top scorer at 24.2 points per game and was coming off a career-high 42 points against Defiance Wednesday night, but Hanover held him to 5-of-12 shooting and didn’t allow him a free throw attempt after he made a school-record 20 free throws Wednesday night.
Bluffton freshman Eric Sweet scored a career-high 14 points to notch team-high honors, while Leimeister added 12 and freshman Scott Bergman chipped in eight.
A pair of sophomores led Hanover in scoring as Matt Moore tossed in 23 points and Ryan Lanning added 22.
Bluffton will travel to Manchester on Wednesday night at 7:30.
