Bluffton squashes Yellow Jackets 75-55 on Senior Night
By Evan Skilliter
Sports information assistant
BLUFFTON — The Bluffton University men’s basketball team welcomed Defiance College to the Sommer Center on Wednesday, desperately needing a win to keep their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament hopes alive.

A dominating inside presence coupled with a career-high 12 assists from Ryan Ebbeskotte (Ft. Jennings/Delphos Jefferson) sent the Beavers to a 75-55 victory over their biggest rivals on Senior Night, helping seniors Tyler Neal (Bluffton), Josh Fisher (Rockford/Parkway) and Matt Gerdeman (Delphos/Jefferson) end their home career in victorious fashion.

Bluffton stormed out to a 7-0 lead after a quick four in a row from Will Pope (Somerville/Preble Shawnee) and a 3-pointer from Neal got the full-capacity crowd fired up in a hurry. After a Mason Roth 3-pointer got Defiance on the scoreboard, Neal hit another trey to put the Beavers up 10-3.

After four straight Defiance points made the score 10-7, freshman Thayne Recker (Arlington) converted a hoop-and-harm for a 6-point lead. On the next possession, Recker put the Beavers up 15-7 with another layup.