Lipscomb came off of a split last weekend with UNF and looked poised to bounce back against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles, but the Bisons were unable to stop the Eagles who outplayed Lipscomb in the second half and won by a score of 79-69.
With an 11-0 run to start off the game for Lipscomb, things looked optimistic in the first half. However, from there, FGCU went on a 19-4 scoring run that had them up midway through the first half by four.
The Bisons managed to claw their way back towards the end of the half with a three-pointer from sophomore guard KJ Johnson, free throws from senior guard Romeao Ferguson and hustle plays from senior forward Parker Hazen. With the late surge in the first half, Lipscomb found themselves ahead 36-32 going into the halftime break.
With a fairly even first half from the conference foes, the question was who would pull ahead in the second half. As Lipscomb has been struggling to hold leads in recent matchups, the Bisons were hoping to break the trend with some reliable defense for the second half.
Out of the gates, things were neck and neck. Both teams battled for the lead, but once the Eagles took the lead with 12:36 in the second half, they wouldn’t look back.
Lipscomb tried to hold on, closing the lead back to three with six minutes remaining in the contest, but then with back-to-back 3’s from FGCU, the game became out of reach for the Bisons.
The Bisons had no answer for the 47 point explosion in the second half from FGCU, who shot 50% from the field in the last 20 minutes. Although the Bisons had bright spots from Ferguson and Ahsadullah on offense, they were outmatched.
With this 10 point victory, Florida Gulf Coast gets their first ASUN victory of the season, however, they still sit amongst the bottom of the conference. The Bisons, however, went from first in the conference to sixth with back-to-back losses.
Lipscomb plays again on Saturday night in Allen Arena at 7 o’clock in the series finale against FGCU as they look to split the series weekend.
Photos by Mckenzi Harris