by Danielle Kinnen | Apr 22, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
For the first time since 2013, the Lipscomb men’s tennis team will compete in the Atlantic-Sun quarterfinals Friday in Spartanburg, South Carolina. “The conference season started slow but has finished well with two conference wins at the end,” said Coach Mario Hernandez. “I am proud of how the guys stayed mentally tough when we were struggling at the start of the conference.” Hernandez said he hopes the Bisons will continue their two match conference winning streak as they go into the championship as the No. 5 seed. “As long as individually we do what we need to do and play within ourselves we will be fine,” said senior John Tougher. “We must stay together from the first to the last ball and bring a lot of energy.” The Lipscomb men’s team will play against the hosts USC Upstate on Friday at 8 a.m. where the winners will take on top-seed FGCU. “We have played a very hard schedule and have learned a lot this year,” Tougher said. “We will use the tough matches to push through the last portion of conference strong.” The Spartans have beaten the Bisons on their last five meets, including a 6-1 defeat at home in Nashville. However, the team has seen improvements in the last couple of weeks and Hernandez said he hopes they take the momentum into this weekend. “I expect the guys to be excited and to fight extremely hard tomorrow,” Hernandez said. “These opportunities don’t come around everyday, so you have to be prepared to take your opportunities when they come.” On top of a successful season, the Bisons made All-Conference...
by Danielle Kinnen | Feb 26, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb men’s basketball lost 73-57 in their final regular season game against Kennesaw State on Thursday evening. “Tonight was a miserable performance and a miserable night on our bench,” Lipscomb head coach Casey Alexander said. “We’ve got some soul searching to do or it will be a quick tournament appearance for us next week.” The Owls took control of the first half (39-36) as they managed to shift the energy in their favor after trailing the Bisons by 10 points at the beginning. “We never really had any momentum,” Alexander said. “We were able to keep the game close but we weren’t doing anything spectacular by any shape or form – we got what we deserved.” The Bisons made only 4-of-32 three pointers on the night. “We say the right things but there wasn’t anyone at this game tonight that saw the right things from my team.” Alexander said. “We got to play more, we got to play harder, execute better and just perform better.” The Purple and Gold were led by freshman guard Garrison Mathews with 16 points. Last week Mathews received the Atlantic Sun Newcomer of the week. He was joined by sophomore George Brammeier, who scored 15 points. Lipscomb’s defense play kept them in the game, but they were unable to turn it around. “We weren’t making any plays,” Alexander said. “There was never a moment in the game where we felt things were turning in our direction.” Lipscomb honored J.J. Butler, Talbot Denny, Dylan Greene, Charles Smith and David Wishon in a pregame ceremony in their final home regular season game. The Bisons open the 2016 A-Sun Championship as the...
by Danielle Kinnen | Feb 21, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s tennis team finished the weekend with a 4-1 loss to end their three-match winning streak on Saturday against University of Alabama at Birmingham at Richland Country Club. The Purple and Gold (3-5) were unable to use their previous win against Illinois State as momentum into Saturday’s match. The Bisons started off the dual matches by mixing up their doubles teams to lean more to their aggressive playing at the net. Senior John Tougher and junior Rob Mitchell combined to take the lead before play was stopped. In singles, Mitchell got the first win out of the two teams as he stepped up to take his fourth win in a row. “[Mitchell] did really well today, especially mentally,” head coach Mario Hernandez said. “He was locked in early. That’s what we want from all of our guys — focus on your job.” The singles continued from positions two through six, where the teams battled it out in a match that mimicked conference play. “It was a tough match but we needed a intense environment that would imitate a conference match,” Hernandez said. “It is all about building experience to where we go into conference feeling comfortable with tight matches.” At the two spot, sophomore Alejandro Manzanares, lead in both sets but was unable to hold his serve against Eric Komati who pulled out the win 7-5, 6-4. The Blazers (4-3) received their fourth point against sophomore Philippe Courteau, who lost two intense tie-breakers (7-6, 7-6) against Christian Coetzee at the third line. “I’m really proud of the boys battling it out on every court but it is just the...
by Danielle Kinnen | Feb 12, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team returned home Thursday evening, winning 93-92 against Atlantic Sun Conference co-leader Jacksonville. “Resiliency was one of the words that the team gave us,” head coach Casey Alexander said. “They believe in that part of who they are and it showed tonight.” The Bisons (8-18, 5-5 A-Sun) were led by freshman Eli Pepper, junior J.C. Hampton and freshman Garrison Mathews led the Bisons with 15-plus points each. “The most impressive part of the game to me was how Garrison went in and kept balls alive on the offensive glass,” Alexander said. “His seven offensive rebounds were huge emotional plays.” Lipscomb started off their bid against the Dolphins with a three-pointer from Hampton who is Lipscomb’s leading scorer, averaging 17.4 points per game. Although the game started with a fast pace, both teams lost momentum in the middle of the first half, scoring a small total of 30-24 points after 15 minutes into the game. The Bisons were able to turn things around after trailing 10 points behind the Dolphins, picking up the energy in Allen Arena and doubling their 24 points in less than five minutes. After a quick steal and turn over, Jacksonville picked up a three-point lead as the teams entered the intermission where they lead the Purple and Gold’s 43-40. Lipscomb led in turnovers against the Florida based team which allowed Hampton and sophomore Nathan Moran to pull off a number of game-changing three-pointers. As the game fell into the last eight minutes, the intensity rose dramatically as Pepper and Mathews took control with dunks and three-pointers. “This win should give us some confidence...
by Danielle Kinnen | Jan 31, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb women’s basketball team fell to USC Upstate 81-54 Saturday afternoon in Allen Arena as they participated in their sixth conference game of the season. The Lady Bisons brought back sophomore Loren Cagle after an injury. Cagle added 12 points, fives assists and two steals. This is the Purple and Gold’s 15th consecutive loss of the season. Two other players scored in the double digits — junior Alex Banks with 10 points and sophomore Riley Northway with 10 points and a team-high of seven rebounds. Up next the Lady Bisons will play NJIT on Feb 4. at 6 p.m.. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
