by Danny Kotula | Jan 23, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team rid themselves of a 4-game losing streak in a 77-73 win over the Kennesaw State Owls Saturday afternoon. A KSU team entering the contest at 3-0 in conference play fought hard, but the Bisons sported the balanced scoring attack that has characterized their ASUN games thus far. Freshman guard Will Pruitt led the team with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Mt. Juliet native went 4-8 from the floor in 35 minutes. Fourth-year center Ahsan Asadullah produced his sixth double-double on the year, scoring 10 points and securing a team-high 10 rebounds. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Asadullah shot just 4-10 on field goals, but went 1-1 from the 3-point line and added 6 assists and 3 steals. Lipscomb’s key to victory was their paint play behind a 38-33 rebounding advantage and 10 more points in the paint than the Owls. The Bisons took 17 less shots than KSU, but their efficiency led them to outscore their opponents anyway. Lipscomb shot 51% from the floor and 40% from three, both percentages being above their season average. Kennesaw State started lights-out from deep, knocking down a trio of 3-balls to help them to a quick 9-3 lead inside of 3 minutes played. The home team fought back to tie the game at 11 behind a pair of makes from deep by junior guard Greg Jones, and the game was back-and-forth from there. Freshman shooting guard Trae Benham scored 8 first-half points en route to 12 points in a season-high 22 minutes. The Concord, North Carolina-born sharpshooter scored in double for the second straight game...
by Danny Kotula | Jan 20, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
RICHMOND, Kentucky – The Lipscomb women’s basketball team lost handily to the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 77-41 at McBrayer Arena Wednesday night. No one managed double-digits for the Bisons, who scored a combined 9 points in the 1st and 4th quarters alone. Despite a stifling EKU defense and a frustrating night from the floor, as Lipscomb shot just 14-55 on field goals, graduate Sydney Shelton and sophomore Blythe Pearson each scored 9 for Lipscomb. Shelton, a Butler transfer from Greenfield, Indiana, went 3-5 on 3-point shots but only made 3-8 from the floor. Pearson shot 4-11 on field goals and added 5 rebounds. Without senior center Dorie Harrison, Lipscomb was outrebounded 46-26 and outscored 22-10 in the paint. Lipscomb’s forwards and center combined for 3 rebounds total, 2 of which came from San Antonio, Texas-born Nicole Hemphill. A difficult first half put Lipscomb against the current from the onset, as EKU made 4 of their first 6 from downtown and built a 12-point lead at the first media break. “[We give EKU] a lot of credit,” assistant coach Chris Sumski said. “They definitely came out hungry. They played really hard on the defensive end, they crashed the boards hard like they always do, and they also made more shots than they normally do.” Lipscomb missed their first 7 3-point attempts and only managed 6 points in the first quarter, taking a 14-point deficit into the second quarter at 20-6 behind 11 points from EKU forward Jayla Johnson. “I think we let their length affect us a little bit,” Sumski said, “in terms of our confidence in finishing at the rim...
by Danny Kotula | Jan 19, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb track and field team finished with strong performances across the board at the Commodore Invitational in Nashville Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15. A rare local meet for Lipscomb allowed for fans of the Purple and Gold to attend and cheer the Bisons on to one of their best performances thus far in the still-young spring season. “This weekend was my first local competition and I really enjoyed it,” Aislinn McElhaney, a long jumper from Sevierville, Tennessee, said in a statement. “The biggest advantage to having a competition so close was not having to travel hours away on a bus,” McElhaney said. “Sitting on a bus for a long time can make it harder to get loose and ready to compete, so I was thankful to not have to worry about that this weekend.” The junior responded to her competitive advantage by setting a Lipscomb program record in the women’s long jump for the third time in her career, finishing 6th in the event with a 5.73-meter distance. “The feeling is the same every time I jump,” McElhaney said. “Broken record or not, I am just thankful for the opportunity to compete in the event that I have grown to love over the past few years.” “Long jump brings me so much joy and I give God all of the glory for my success in this event,” McElhaney said. In the high jump category, freshman Bella Jackson put together a 4th-place performance with a jump measuring 1.75 meters. Hailing from the Indianapolis suburb of Whiteland, Indiana, Jackson also broke her own record for a personal best....
by Danny Kotula | Jan 19, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team fell short by a score of 86-72 against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels Tuesday night at McBrayer Arena in Richmond, Kentucky. An EKU team without a conference win came out with fire and filled the scoresheet against the Bisons as 5 players reached double digits in scoring. Tarik Balogun scored a career-high 16 to pace the Colonels, while Devontae Blanton scored 14 and added 13 rebounds. Point guard Braxton Beverly scored 11 points and led the game with 13 assists. Despite efficient 42.6% shooting, the visiting Bisons never could keep pace with the offensive firepower of their opponents. Lipscomb grabbed more rebounds, made more free throws, and scored more points in the paint, but the dagger the Bisons could never remove was EKU’s 3-point shooting. The Colonels knocked in 16-37 3-pointers, scoring 21 more points than Lipscomb from behind the arc. Building on a career-high night Saturday versus Bellarmine, second-year freshman Will Pruitt led the team in scoring for a second consecutive game with 17 points. Pruitt, a point guard from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, shot 6-11 from the field and pulled down 6 rebounds. True freshman guard Trae Benham contributed heavily on the offensive end, pouring in 16 points in 18 minutes. Originally from the Charlotte suburb of Concord, North Carolina, Benham shot 4-7 from deep and picked up 5 rebounds. From the onset, EKU scored well from across the court and made defending them near-impossible for a Bisons squad that has given up 74 or more points in five straight games, all of them ASUN contests. Pruitt put up 5 straight points at the...
by Danny Kotula | Jan 16, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s basketball team took down second-year ASUN opponents Bellarmine 65-54 Saturday afternoon at Allen Arena. Weathering a flurry of long-range shots from the Knights, Lipscomb came back from a 5-point deficit at the end of the 1st quarter, dominating Bellarmine defensively in the second half to pick up their 6th win of the year. Bellarmine shot 83% from deep in the first quarter, scoring 15 points on 3-balls in that first period alone. As the visitors cooled off, though, Lipscomb found their rhythm. “I think for us, it’s all about trusting the process and sticking to what we know is going to give us the most success in the long run,” assistant coach Chris Sumski said. “Our kids are just mentally tough and do a good job of not getting discouraged and just trusting the gameplan.” A balanced, consistent scoring attack saw three Bisons score in double figures. Second-year freshman guard Jordan Peete led the team in scoring for the second straight game, following up a 23-point outing at Jacksonville State in midweek with 16 points against Bellarmine. The St. Louis-born point guard went 5-8 from the field, including a 2-3 3-point mark, and shot 4-6 from the free throw line. True freshman power forward Bella Vinson stepped up in a major way, scoring in double figures for the 5th time this season and earning a career high in points with 14. Hailing from Manchester, Tennessee, Vinson started her 5th game as a Bison, slotting in for senior center Dorie Harrison. Harrison suffered an ankle injury against Jacksonville State in Lipscomb’s previous game and did not dress...
