Cincinnati, Ohio—Today, December 18, the Mount St. Joseph University Men's Basketball welcomed the Beavers of Bluffton University to the Harrington Center. Entering this matchup the Lions carried a (3-4) overall record, after dropping two straight Heartland Conference games, in tightly contested games. Once the dust settled in this hotly contested ball game, the Lions snapped their two game losing skid, winning 75-63.
The Lions were successful in winning the tip-off, allowing Evan Wiehe to drive the lane and find Spencer Kinnett wide open for the first score of the afternoon. Bluffton, quickly responded, knocking down a jump-shot on their first possession of the game. In the ensuing possession Devin Young gave the Lions the lead again after getting free on a great post move. Continuing the back and forth affair, the Beavers again responded. Late in the shot clock on the next Lions possession, Young was able to drive the lane and miss a tightly contested layup, but collected his own miss and converted on the second attempt. Willard Cluxton was able to then force a Bluffton turnover and knock down a three-point attempt on the other end.
Bluffton continued to battle with the Lions hot start, as they sunk their first three of the afternoon. The next time down the floor Cluxton knocked down his second three in as many attempts, followed by another Bluffton three. In the Lions next trip, Dayne Gardner was successful in attacking the basket ad finishing a contested lay-up.
With an early 14-12 lead coming out of the games first stoppage, both teams had slowed down a bit on offense for a few moments, before Bluffton came up with a steal and a fast-break score to tie the game at 14. After both teams traded baskets, Young was able to knock down a deep ball to take a 19-16 lead. Bluffton was able to knock down another lay-up before a media timeout, with the Lions leading 19-18.
At the 11:15 mark in the first half, the Beavers were able to claim a 20-19 lead, after attacking the basket and knocking down a lay-up. Brady Thomas was able to quickly tie the ball game up, sinking his first free-throw attempt of the afternoon. Thomas was able to tie the game again at 22-22, attacking the basket for an easy lay-up. After another Bluffton score to reclaim the lead, Wiehe was able to locate the hot-handed Thomas for a three-pointer to give the Lions back the 25-24 lead.
With 8:18 seconds remaining to play in the first half, Kinnett found Wiehe open behind the arc to widen the Lions lead to 4. Bluffton continued to keep pace with the Lions as both squads kept trading buckets. As neither team was able to gain a clear advantage, the Lions held a 32-30 lead with 5:50 left to play.
Following a media timeout, the Lions defense was able to force a Bluffton turnover, that led to Young backing down a defender and scoring a highly contested lay-up. This series began a small run for the Lions, that saw Young score once again, when Cluxton found him cutting to the basket. Coming out of a Bluffton time-out, Kinnett was able to polish off what turned into a 6-0 Lions run, as he drove the lane and finished a tough lay-up attempt. Bluffton was finally able to score again, knocking down a lay-up attempt. In response Kinnett was able to locate Thomas for a corner three, giving the Lions a 41-32 lead with 3 minutes left to play in the first.
The final three minutes of the first half saw both teams trade buckets, before the Lions opened up their first double-digit lead of the game, as Thomas found Young cutting to the basket and completed an old-fashioned three-point play. Bluffton was able to quickly respond with a lay-up to send the Lions into the half-time break with a 47-38 lead. This half saw two lead changes and a staggering six ties. Additionally both teams went into the break shooting very well, Bluffton finished the first half shooting 70% from the field, while the Lions shot 64% the field. Both teams were also able to convert on 50% of their shots from behind the arc.
Bluffton was able to open the second half scoring, with a tightly contested jumper. On the Lions first touch of the second half, Young was able to continue his impressive game backing down a defender and finishing a lay-up. Both teams picked up where they had left off, as they exchanged baskets.
The Lions began to pull away from Bluffton, as they assembled a 7-0 run. This run saw Young pour on five points to the Lions lead while Kinnett added a lay-up. With 15:37 left in the game the Lions held their largest lead of the half at 58-44.
Bluffton was able to finally get the lid of the basket as they were able to knock down consecutive three-point tries, to cut the Mount lead to eight. The Lions were able to put an end to the mini-run that Bluffton had assembled when Wiehe found Young running to the basket on a fast-break. Following a stop by the Lions defense, David Luers found Thomas behind the arc, who got fouled on his attempt and added two points from the charity stripe to get the Lions lead back to 10. Following the second straight stop, Luers was able to get to basket late in the shot clock to continue to build the Lions lead.
Coming out of a media time-out, with 11 minutes left in the game, Bluffton began to eat into the Lions lead. In cutting into the Lions lead, the Beavers assembled a 7-0 run that was ended by Kinnett knocking down a lay-up, after gathering an offensive rebound. This score saw the Lions hold onto their 66-59 lead with 7 minutes left to play.
After a brief stoppage in action, the Beavers were able to pick up where they had left off, pulling down an offensive rebound and finishing a lay-up. However the steady scoring of Young continued as he knocked down a deep ball that was set-up by Cluxton. With both teams scoring on consecutive tries, the Lions defense were able to come up with a stop that led to Young getting fouled on his way to the rim and adding two points to the Lions lead from the charity stripe, to extend the Lions lead to 12.
As the game ran down to the final three minutes of action the Lions were in control of a 73-63 lead. At this mark the Lions notched their final score of the game, as Kinnett knocked down a lay-up to give the Mount a 75-63 win.
With all being told the Lions had a wonderful performance, shooting 50% from the field, while out rebounding the Beavers 31-23. This win saw three players turn in double digit scoring performances. Young continued to lead the way for the Lions, scoring 30 points while pulling down 9 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and coming up with 2 huge blocks. Kinnett was impressive as he poured on 14 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Thomas was able to offer the Lions scoring help off the bench as he scored 13 total points on 2-4 shooting from deep. Additionally Cluxton was able to help the Lions in a variety of ways as he scored eight points, while distributing five assists and coming away with a team high three steals.
The Lions will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, December 18. The Mount will host Wabash in this game, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 PM. For continued coverage of this upcoming game and all other MSJ Athletics, continue to follow msjlions.com
