The Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball team has undergone significant personnel changes since dropping a 108-96 contest to Lipscomb in the ASUN title game last March.
But the result was the same Thursday night.
Lipscomb (15-4, 6-0 ASUN) used 13 three-pointers to pull away from the Eagles for an 89-81 victory at Allen Arena.
“It was nice to find a way [to win],” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “I give FGCU a lot of credit – they played tough. But we had some experienced guys make some experienced plays, and that turned out to be the difference.”
Senior guard Garrison Mathews went for 31 points, and he hit six of Lipscomb’s 13 threes. Matt Rose added a trio of three-pointers, while Nathan Moran and Michael Buckland each had two apiece.
Mathews’ outing was his best since scoring 29 points at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 1.
“[Garrison] wanted the ball and he delivered,” Alexander said. “He got to the line, he made tough twos, he made big threes. It was a complete game for him.”
Mathews and Moran hit back-to-back threes with just 1:23 remaining to take an 81-73 lead and prevent any hope of an FGCU comeback.
“All of us were knocking down shots tonight,” Mathews said. “Nate hit that big-time three at the end that really kind of sealed the deal. I was just fortunate to knock some down.”
The offseason was not kind to the Eagles (7-14, 2-4 ASUN). Coach Joe Dooley left for East Carolina, reigning ASUN Player of the Year Brandon Goodwin graduated and went to the NBA and Zach Johnson transferred to Miami, leaving FGCU in rebuilding mode.
“They’re obviously going to struggle a little bit with all the new pieces they have,” Mathews said. “But they’re a good team, a talented team. We knew after beating them in the championship game that we were going to get their best.”
However, the cupboard is far from bare in Fort Myers. Senior guard Dinero Mercurius had 17 points to lead the Eagles, while Iona transfer Schadrac Casimir added 14 and Mike Baxter Jr. finished with 10.
Lipscomb led 42-35 at the half and the game remained close throughout the final 20 minutes. The lead changed on 12 occasions.
“[FGCU] has won two in a row, but they’ve played really well [recently],” Alexander said. “They came into the game with momentum. We got a nice lead in the first half, but I felt like [FGCU] played with confidence all night.”
FGCU’s defense focused on creating traffic in the lane, limiting Lipscomb forward Rob Marberry to just eight points. But that opened opportunities on the outside, and the Bisons took full advantage by shooting 45 percent from long range.
“I saw Rob had five assists. He played great, but every time he caught it, they doubled him,” Mathews said. “He’s a great passer and did a great job of kicking it out to us.”
Lipscomb point guard Kenny Cooper left the game with an undisclosed injury at the 3:05 mark in the second half. However, he returned to the bench late in the game and did not require serious medical attention.
The Bisons hit the road this weekend to take on Stetson (4-17, 0-6 ASUN). Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on Sunday. From there, the team will head to Virginia for a much-anticipated battle at Liberty on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
“It’ll be a big trip,” Alexander said. “Fortunately, we just played Stetson and there’s not a lot of preparation that has to go into that game. But we’ll put all our eggs in for that game and then move on to the next one.”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics