The Lipscomb faithful filled the Hall of Fame room in Allen Arena to witness an unforgettable ASUN championship victory for the Lipscomb University men’s basketball team.
On Sunday afternoon, several fans attended the watch party held by the university’s Student Activities Board and saw the No. 2 Lipscomb Bisons overpower the No. 1 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. The ASUN Championship victory sends Lipscomb to territory it has never crossed into before — the NCAA tournament, the “Big Dance,” March Madness — whatever you want to call it.
“It’s arguably the biggest thing to ever happen to the university,” SAB director Louis Nelms said. “And that’s not an overstatement. Hundreds of millions of people will be filling out brackets next week and reading Lipscomb’s name.”
Lipscomb sent a handful of students to Alico Arena by bus, but the game was nationally televised on ESPN.
“Florida’s a long way away,” Nelms said, “And I know there’s a lot of fans that couldn’t make the game.”
This particular Sunday, campus was calm and quiet, and the weather outside was sunny and balmy.
Inside Allen Arena, both the the Hall of Fame room and the lobby outside the room were lined up with several chairs and televisions. Another group of chairs could be spied at the south lobby. Fans had access to cookies, pulled pork sandwiches, queso and chips — there was plenty of food for everyone.
“A lot of people put work into this event,” Nelms said. ” . . . We wanted to provide an opportunity for Lipscomb fans to watch the game together, even though you can’t make the game.”
For the first couple minutes, the audience witnessed a close contest. But when the Bisons began quickly expanding on an 8-7 lead with an 11-0 run, the energy in the room intensified. Fans shouted and applauded as Lipscomb drained three-pointers one after another, denied the Eagles opportunities to shoot the ball, and took a 60-31 halftime lead.
That score stood at 72-41 with 15:46 left in the second half.
It was better than a dream come true. Even though Lipscomb had previously blown an 18-point lead to FGCU at home this season and then nearly blown a 17-point lead on the road, a lead of just over 30 points seemed impossible to give up. Everyone was elated by a prime chance for history, but the idea of doing so in blowout fashion was surreal.
And then the recurring nightmare began.
“Everybody knew FGCU was going to come back last-minute,” senior English major Sam Hearn said after the game.
The Eagles switched to a full-court press. Bisons sophomore guard Kenny Cooper found himself in foul trouble and had to sit for a while. The Bisons seemed to only be able to score when they went to the free-throw line. With approximately 13:30 left, everyone in the room quieted down and bowed their heads as a Lipscomb fan said a prayer.
“So many times they’ve come so close and just fallen just a little bit short,” Hearn said.
Before too long, FGCU had put up a 35-10 run against Lipscomb, and the Eagles were only down 82-76 with 9:07 left.
“It was super scary,” junior fashion merchandising major Cole Buttrey said. “I mean, Florida Gulf Coast, they’ve always been infamous for going to the tournament.”
The very same people who had electrified the Hall of Fame room became distraught and impatient. People criticized the refs like wildfire. One man standing in the back of the room repeatedly called for Cooper’s return.
Despite all this, the Eagles were still losing. Down by five points with 7:08 to go, FGCU could only dream for so long.
Whether it was by adjustment, whether it was by defensive fatigue from FGCU’s overuse of the press scheme as one fan said during the game, Lipscomb finally began scoring regularly again in the last nine minutes. Cooper subbed in and out a couple times. Both of FGCU’s best players fouled out of the game late. The watch party became a party again.
Although they never quite returned to blowout form, Lipscomb had regained enough momentum to take a decisive victory, never giving up the lead. The Bisons finished with a 108-96 victory, and naturally celebration ensued at the watch party.
“It’s just so awesome how the tables turned,” Buttrey said. “We definitely built up a lead in the first half, and I mean they definitely kept it interesting; so I’m just glad these boys fought really hard and were able to take it home.”
After the game, several students crowded the fountain at Bison Square, took a group picture, and then filled up two pickup trucks at the square to drive around campus in celebration. Under normal circumstances, students parading in pickup trucks around campus is probably not allowed.
But this was special. This was not normal circumstances. This was something Lipscomb had never experienced.
And Nelms definitely feels the same way.
“The chance to compete at that kind of a level and the chance to build on that kind of a success is something that is not going to be matched by really anything I can think of that we’ve done.”