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Bluffton College out-shot and out-rebounded Defiance College Wednesday night, but the host Yellow Jackets scored 32 points off 28 Bluffton turnovers en route to an 85-72 win at Defiance’s Karl H. Weaner Center.
A season-high 1,600 fans saw Bluffton shoot 55.3% from the floor, compared to 46.7% for Defiance, and out-rebound the Jackets 31-29, but Defiance went on a 17-2 run mid-way through the first half en route to a 50-35 halftime lead that the Beavers were unable to overcome in the second half despite out-scoring DC 37-35 over the final 20 minutes.
Senior Mike Leimeister led Bluffton with 14 points as he moved closer to the 1,000 point mark for his career. He now has 988 points with at least two games remaining, the next of which will be Bluffton’s final home contest Saturday at 3 p.m. against Thomas More College.
Leimeister tied his career-high with 12 rebounds to collect his 11th career double-double. Junior Brad Boyles added 12 points and freshman Eric Sweet chipped in 10.
Five Defiance players scored in double-figures, led by 19 points from Curt Croy and 16 from Jeremy Miklovic.
Bluffton sees their record slip to 10-14 overall and 4-10 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Defiance improves to 15-9 overall and 7-7 in the HCAC.
Bluffton opened the game with a 9-2 run and led again by seven points at 14-7 with 15:33 left in the first half. Leimeister scored eight of those points, but was then held to six points over the remainder of the game. It was the first time in five career outings against the Yellow Jackets that Leimeister didn’t score at least 30 points. On Jan. 22 Leimeister scored a career-high 42 points in Bluffton’s 97-93 win over Defiance in Founders Hall.
Bluffton’s 28 turnovers marked a new season-high.
Following Bluffton’s non-league game against Thomas More on Saturday, the Beavers will hit the road for a first-round HCAC tournament game on Tuesday, February 25.
