Beavers looking for first Heartland conference win, Yelley posts career high against Franklin
By Ben Risinger, SID
January 19, 2004
The Bluffton men’s basketball team (6-9, 0-4 HCAC) lost both contests last week in Heartland Conference play. The Beavers lost Wednesday at home to Franklin 76-62. On Saturday Bluffton traveled to Lexington, Kentucky to face Transylvania. Final score for the contest was 92-63 in favor of the Pioneers. This week Bluffton will be at home on Wednesday to face Mount St. Joseph. Tip off for the game is scheduled for 7:30 pm. Saturday the Beavers will travel to Anderson University for a 3 pm start time.
FRANKLIN 76, BLUFFTON 62
The Bluffton College men’s basketball team (6-8, 0-3 HCAC) were defeated by Franklin College (10-4, 2-1 HCAC) 76-62 at Founders Hall on Wednesday night.
Sophomore Bryan Yelley (Wheelersburg/Wheelersburg) led the Beavers with 16 points which was a career high. Yelley also tied his career high with six rebounds and posted his second career start. Michael Anthony (Ohio City/Delphos St. John’s) also scored in double figures for Bluffton with 12 points in only 26 minutes.
Bluffton led early on but Franklin took the lead for good with 13:20 left to play in the first half. However, the Beavers kept it close tying the score at 21 at the 7:41 mark on a layup by Yelley. Sophomore Scott Bergman (Elmore/Woodmore) made a 3-pointer with five seconds left in the first half to cut the lead to 11 at halftime. The halftime score was 41-30 in favor of Franklin.
Franklin dominated with 15 second chance points compared to only 6 for Bluffton. However, Bluffton had 38 points in the paint compared to 30 for the Grizzlies. Each team had 32 rebounds apiece. Bluffton’s bench came up with 27 points while Franklin only had 9 points from its bench.
TRANSYLVANIA 92, BLUFFTON 63
The Bluffton College men’s basketball team (6-9, 0-4 HCAC) was defeated by the Transylvania (10-3, 4-0 HCAC) Pioneers 92-63 on Saturday afternoon.
Things were rough from the start for the Beavers as they shot only eight field goals in the first half to head into the locker room down, 46-23. Starting the second period Transylvania widened their lead as Bluffton shot only 10-of-27 for the half. Plaguing the Beavers for the game were the 13 three-pointers that were made by Transylvania.
Leading Bluffton was senior Brad Boyles (Berne, Ind./South Adams) with 17 points for the game. Freshman Michael Anthony (Ohio City/Delphos St. John’s) finished the double figure scoring with 11 for the afternoon.
Bluffton posted 17 turnovers for the day compared to Transy’s nine. Transylvania converted 17 points off of turnovers for the contest. Bluffton did win the battle of the boards by pulling down 38 rebounds to the Pioneer’s 35.
Beavers in the Heartland Conference
TEAM STATISTICS
The Beavers currently rank first in assists (16.47 per game). Bluffton ranks 2nd in the HCAC in rebounding defense (27.7). Bluffton is 3rd in the league in field goal percentage (.474) and assists/turnover ratio (1.13). The Beavers also rank 3rd in rebounding margin (+4.3).
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Senior Brad Boyles currently leads Bluffton in scoring this season and ranks 6th in the HCAC with 15.3 points per game. He also is the Beavers and the HCAC’s most consistent shooter converting .634 percent of his field goals. He currently ranks 5th in the country in field goal percentage among NCAA Division III.
Sophomore Scott Bergman currently ranks 10th in the HCAC in scoring with 13.5 points per game. Bergman leads the Beavers in both 3-pointers made with 32 (tied for 6th in HCAC) and 3-point field goal percentage .410 (8th in HCAC). He also ranks sixth in the league (leads Bluffton) in defensive rebounding, averaging 3.87 per game.
