ANDERSON, Ind. — The Bluffton University men’s basketball team dropped a 93-50 decision Saturday at Anderson. Anderson improved to 6-5 overall with a 4-0 mark in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Bluffton fell to 3-8 and 1-3 in the HCAC.
Anderson led from start to finish. A triple from Shawnee graduate Brady Wheeler pulled Bluffton within 13-6 at the 14:59 mark of the first half. Kegan Owen followed with another 3-pointer and the visitors trailed by six a minute later.
Owen found Cam Rogers for a basket midway through the first half, making it 23-11, but a 30-9 spurt by the Ravens pushed their lead to 53-20 at the break.
A four-minute dry spell to open the second half came to an end when Jalen Cromwell nailed a jumper with less than 16 minutes to play. Anderson led by as many as 48 (81-33) with 6:29 on the clock when Ryan Rose got free for a three.
Cromwell hit 6-of-9 at the stripe en route to a career-high 10 points. He also pulled down a career-best five rebounds. Owen connected on a pair threes and led the Beavers with 13 points. Connor Martin had a game-high eight rebounds.
Bluffton hit 17-of-58 (29.3 percent) from the field, including going 4-for-19 (21.1 percent) beyond the arc. Bluffton also made 12-of-24 (50 percent) at the free throw line. Anderson pulled down 10 more rebounds (45-35) and the visitors turned it over six more times (19-13).
The Beavers will play host to Defiance College at the Sommer Center for an 8 p.m. Wednesday encounter following the 6 p.m. women’s matchup with the Yellow Jackets.
