Men's Basketball
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Sixth consecutive win puts Panthers in second
The Hanover College men's basketball squad climbed into second place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with a 72-67 victory against Bluffton University (Ohio), Saturday, Feb. 6, in Collier Arena.
The triumph was the sixth in a row for Hanover, which improved to 12-9 overall and 9-4 in the conference. The winning streak is the longest for the team since the latter part of the 2004-05 campaign.
Senior guard Jake Inman (North Vernon, Ind.) and sophomore forward Mike Case (Indianapolis, Ind.) netted 12 points apiece to lead four Panthers in double figures. Junior guard Taylor Dial (Speedway, Ind.) notched 11 points off the bench and freshman guard Ryan Nowicki (Carmel, Ind.) added 10 points.
Mychal Hill scored a game-high 19 points and Rob Luderman added 15 points off the bench for Bluffton. The Beavers dipped to 2-10 overall and 2-11 in the HCAC with the setback.
Both squads shot higher than 50 percent from the field in the first half, which featured eight ties and six lead changes.
Nowicki scored from inside to push Hanover ahead 26-24 with five minutes left in the opening period. The Panthers would not trail again.
Hanover held a 36-32 lead at the intermission and kept Bluffton at arms-length early in the second half. With the Panthers nursing a 45-44 lead nine minutes into the period, Dial canned a jumper to start a 16-5 run. The burst pushed Hanover ahead 61-49 with four minutes remaining in the game.
Hill scored four consecutive points as Bluffton battled to cut the margin to 63-58 with 1:27 to go.
Hanover, however, hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to nail down the win. Junior forward Mitchell Meyer (New Albany, Ind.) hit 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the final 90 seconds.
Meyer finished the outing with eight points, pushing his career total to 997 points.
Hanover finished the game 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the floor. The Panthers, which committed just 10 turnovers, were 10-of-16 from the foul line (62.5%) - including 9-of-12 in the second half.
Hanover vs. Bluffton (Ohio) statistics
Panthers land fourth in HCAC coaches' poll
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference's nine men's basketball head coaches have selected Hanover College to place fourth in the battle for the league's 2009-10 championship.
Hanover, under second-year head coach Jon Miller, earned 52 points in the pre-season coaches' poll. The Panthers posted a 9-16 overall record in 2008-09, including a sixth-place finish in the Heartland Conference with a 6-10 record.
2009-10 HCAC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll
Transylvania University (Ky.), which won the league title last season, is the coaches' choice to retain the HCAC crown. The Pioneers received 70 points and four first-place votes in the balloting. Defiance College (Ohio) was second in the poll. The Yellow Jackets picked up 59 points, including two first-place votes. Anderson University placed third with 56 points and received three first-place votes.
Hanover will start the 2009-10 campaign Sunday, Nov. 15, on the road against Ohio Northern University. The Panthers' home debut will be against Goshen College Friday, Nov. 20, in the Sodexho Classic.
Hanover begins its Heartland Conference slate Wednesday Dec. 2, against Transylvania in Lexington, Ky.
Cutter joins men's basketball staff
Scott Cutter has joined the Hanover College athletic department staff as an assistant coach with the men's basketball program.
Cutter previously worked as an assistant coach under current Hanover head coach Jon Miller at Defiance College (Ohio) from 2003-2007. He most-recently served as an assistant coach at Ohio Wesleyan University during the 2008-09 season. He also spent 2002-03 season as an assistant boys' varsity coach at Sycamore High School (Ohio).
In addition to collegiate teaching and coaching, Cutter has worked numerous basketball camps in the region and on the West Coast. He served as director of the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Basketball Camp and was associate director of the summer camp at Defiance. He also has worked at camps at Stanford Unviersity (Calif.), Gonzaga University (Wash.), University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and Miami University (Ohio).
Cutter received a bachelor's degree in business management from Wilmington College (Ohio) in 2002 after playing for the Quakers for two seasons. He earned a master's degree in education and sports science from Defiance in 2007.