On Wednesday, Feb. 7, both the Bluffton University men’s and women’s basketball teams travelled to Defiance College to take on the Yellow Jackets.
The women’s team (16-6, 11-5 HCAC) played first in the double header and beat Defiance 78-50.
Leading the way for the Beavers was senior forward Kaycee Rowe (Harrod/Allen East) with 15 points on 4-7 shooting from the field. Most of Rowe’s 15 points came from the charity stripe as she went 7-9 at the free-throw line. She also tallied nine rebounds, falling short of a fifth straight double-double. Following behind Rowe was senior guard Macey Sheerer with 14 points on 5-11 shooting.
Bluffton had a nine-point lead heading into the half and Coach Shutler made some major adjustments. Entering the third quarter, Bluffton was firing on all cylinders as they totaled 28 points.
The Beavers shooting woes seemed to disappear. The shot 25-58 (43.3 percent) from the field, 4-8 from behind the 3-point line and hit an outstanding 24-29 (82.8 percent) from the charity stripe.
The key to the victory was Bluffton’s defense. The Beavers held Defiance to under 30 percent shooting from the field and under 25 percent from behind the arc.
The men’s basketball team (10-12, 7-8 HCAC) finished out the night also defeating Defiance by a large margin, 85-65.
Leading the charge for the men’s team was sophomore guard Andrew Renner (Cairo/Bath) with his career high 23 points and he also had four assists. Following behind him was senior Kevin Christie (Dayton/Bishop Fenwick) with 18 points and five dimes, senior Andrew Hunter (Arlington) and freshman Dezman Brown (Elyria) with 10 points apiece.
The men’s team also shot really well in this game. From the field, they went 32-62 (51.6 percent), 10-20 from the 3-point line and hit 11 out of their 15 free-throws.
