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A visiting Franklin College squad snapped Bluffton College’s four-game winning streak Wednesday night with a 65-53 win over the Beavers in Founders Hall.
Senior Mike Leimeister, who was double and triple teamed all night, tied his career-high with 12 rebounds and scored 12 points to notch his sixth career double-double. Franklin held Leimeister 12 points under his season average.
Bluffton held Franklin to 22 field goals, the fewest by any opponent this season, but the Grizzlies’ defense was just as good as Franklin held BC to a season-low 53 points and a .397 shooting percentage from the field, including a .300 effort in the first half as Franklin built at 34-20 lead at halftime.
A lay-up by Leimeister gave Bluffton an 8-6 lead after five minutes had gone by in the game and BC trailed by just two points at 16-14 with eight minutes left before halftime, but it would be all the closer the Beavers would get as Franklin led by 14 at the intermission and didn’t let Bluffton get any closer than 11 in the second half.
Senior Derek DeNero and sophomore Bryce Beilharz both scored 10 points for Bluffton, which sees their record dip below the .500 mark at 6-7 overall and 0-4 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Franklin, which upset 12th-ranked Hanover College last Saturday, improves to 5-8 overall and 2-2 in the HCAC.
Bluffton made a 3-pointer for the 255nd game in a row, but waited almost too long to do it as senior Marcus Bixler’s trey with 1:59 left in the game was BC’s first 3-pointer of the game. The Beavers finished the game with two 3-pointers, which tied their season low. Bluffton’s 5-for-10 performance at the free throw line was also a season low for both attempts and makes.
Bluffton will hit the road for their next three games, the first of which will take place Saturday at HCAC-leader Anderson University at 3 p.m., with WDOH 107.1 FM bringing the live broadcast.
