Weekly recap 12-22

Beavers on three game win streak; Guy Neal ties for most coaching victories; Scott Bergman has career day on Saturday

 

By Ben Risinger, SID

December 22, 2003

   The Bluffton College men’s basketball team (5-3) won both games last week to give themselves a three game win streak going into Christmas break. Last Thursday Bluffton easily defeated Marygrove College 71-58, on Saturday the Beavers defeated Denison 73-65. With the win on Saturday head coach Guy Neal tied for the most career men’s basketball coaching wins at Bluffton College. He is tied with former BC Hall of Fame coach Glenn Snyder with 150 wins. The Beavers will be back in action next Monday and Tuesday when they host the McDonald’s of Bluffton holiday tournament.

 

Bluffton 71, Marygrove 58
   The Bluffton College men’s basketball team (4-3) easily defeated the Marygrove Mustangs (5-9) 71-58 Thursday night at Founders Hall.

   Leading the Beavers for the game was Sophomore Scott Bergman (Elmore/Woodmore) with 15 points. Bergman tied his career high in three-pointers with four for the evening. Sophomore Eric Sweet (Ottawa-Ottawa/Glandorf) posted 12 points and tied his career high in assists with four. Senior Brad Boyles (Berne, Ind./South Adams) was the last Beaver in double figures with 10 points.  Sophomores Simeon Talley (Columbus/Centennial) led Bluffton with nine rebounds which was a career high and Brett Mitchell (Avon Lake/Avon Lake) led the team in assists with a career high five for the game.

   Bluffton had no problems from the start with a majority of the players coming off the bench to help with the scoring effort. The entire BC varsity squad saw playing time on Thursday. All together the Beaver bench threw in 22 points for the game. Bluffton shot 50 percent for the game compared to 35 percent for the Mustangs. The Beavers also led the battle of the boards, posting 33 rebounds compared to Marygrove with 17 for the night.

   The Beavers also continued their three-point streak to the 275 mark on Thursday night. The last time Bluffton didn’t make a three-pointer was January 6, 1993.

 

Bluffton 73, Denison 65
   The Bluffton College men’s basketball team (5-3) defeated Denison University (3-6) 73-65 on Saturday afternoon. With the win head coach Guy Neal ties former coach Glenn Snyder at 150 wins for the most career basketball coaching victories at Bluffton College.

   The Beavers led the entire game as Denison could only tighten the lead to two late in the first half. Heading into the locker room Bluffton owned a 39-31 advantage. For the game Bluffton shot 51 percent from the floor, compared to Dension’s 47percent. As a team the Beavers connected on eight three pointers which is a season high. Bluffton also led on the boards with 30 rebounds compared to Denison’s 27.

   Sophomore Scott Bergman had a career high day in several categories. He led the Beavers with 28 points and six three-pointers for the contest and threw in another career high with five assists. Bergman also led the team with six rebounds for the game and went 11-for-16 in shooting from the floor. Senior Brad Boyles had 18 points to finish the double figure scoring.

   As a team Bluffton leads the Heartland conference in field goal percentage at .516 for the year (221-for-428) and rebounding margin by out rebounding opponents by 7.9 boards per game.
   Scott Bergman ranks second in the Heartland conference in scoring and leads the BC squad with 18.0 points per game. Bergman also ranks 8th in the HCAC in rebounding with 5.8 boards per game (second on BC squad). Senior Brad Boyles is second on the team in scoring and 5th in the HCAC with 16.0 points per game. Boyles also posts 20 assists for the season which is tied for the team high and 7th in the conference. Eric Sweet adds 10.0 points per game for Bluffton for 20th in the HCAC and posts a team high 47 rebounds which ranks him at 7th in the conference. Simeon Talley posts 20 assists for the season to tie with Boyles for the team high. Michael Anthony is second in the HCAC in field goal percentage at .659 percent (27-for-41).

 

   Bluffton will host the McDonald’s of Bluffton holiday tournament next Monday and Tuesday. Coach Neal will be looking for his 151st career victory on Monday night at 8 pm vs. Lake Erie. The consolation game will be played Tuesday at 1 pm with the championship game tip off scheduled for 3 pm.