by Grant Ledgister | Apr 24, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
It’s been a busy two days for Lipscomb basketball. Yesterday, Lipscomb welcomed Lauren Sumski as the new head coach for women’s basketball. And today, Lipscomb introduced Lennie Acuff as the new head coach for men’s basketball. Acuff is the winningest coach in the history of the Gulf South Conference, amassing 437 wins over 22 seasons at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. He has a total of 550 wins in 29 seasons. Acuff said he believes that encouraging those around him is crucial. “The most powerful thing you can say to someone is ‘I believe in you,’” Acuff said. Acuff added that he knows there are difficult decisions he’s going to have to make as Lipscomb’s head coach, especially involving players, but he is prepared to make the decisions that bring the most benefit to both the team and the school. “You’ve just got to get guys that you think are good enough to win, but also guys that are good representatives of the school,” Acuff said. “You get guys that want to work — there’s a real big difference between guys that like it, and guys that love it. You need guys that love it.” Before college, Acuff attended basketball camp during the Don Meyer-NAIA era at Lipscomb. Today, he was visibly excited about the opportunity to lead Lipscomb’s program, but that excitement didn’t come without some sadness leaving the school and people he loves in Alabama. “We had a lot of friends,” Acuff said. “We had an unbelievable group of kids, and it’s going to be hard leaving them, but I’m excited to coach these guys and be a...
by Grant Ledgister | Apr 15, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Not many people switch out of a stable job to pursue a career in something far less stable. Yet, that Lipscomb women’s soccer senior goalkeeper Kate Mason, a double major in accounting and finance, did this year. Mason had already accepted a full-time accounting position at a public accounting firm before she got an offer to play for Telge United FF, a Swedish professional soccer club. “When this came up, I knew it was something I couldn’t turn down,” Mason said. “Luckily the firm was very understanding of that and made it known that if I want to come back, there will be a spot for me.” At Lipscomb, the 5-foot-10, brown-haired goalie recorded more than 100 saves and allowed just 43 goals in her 42 career games. She posted shutouts in three of her final five games, including a 1-0 victory over Mississippi State in the first round of the NCAA tournament last November. It was the support system around Mason that made her decision to play professional soccer in Europe easier. She said her coaches, teammates and friends at Lipscomb had major influence on the trajectory of her life and playing career. “This was a place that was really special to me and I had grew so much, not only as a soccer player but off the field too,” Mason said. “It was so awesome to be in a place where I was encouraged to play for something bigger than myself and use this platform to share the gospel.” A player of Mason’s caliber does not go unnoticed in the recruiting process. She could have gone to...
by Grant Ledgister | Apr 1, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons (14-12, 3-3 ASUN) swept Kennesaw State with a 13-2 victory at Ken Dugan Field Sunday. The game got off to a hot start for Lipscomb, as the Bisons hit four RBIs to take a quick 4-0 lead in the second inning. First baseman Cade Sorrells started the scoring spree by hitting a single that allowed a runner to advance to third base and then score on the next at-bat. But the scoring did not stop there. Third baseman Zeke Dodson launched a home run over the left field wall to start off the bottom of the third inning, and the Bisons added four more runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the eighth. Senior pitcher Joshua Colon earned his first win of the season, throwing four of Lipscomb’s seven scoreless innings. Kennesaw State rotated through pitchers Jake McLinskey, Monty Horn and Devenir McCray by the end the fifth. Sorrells (3-for-5), Haddon Adams (3-for-4), Brian Moore (2-for-3) and Chris Bashlor (2-for-3) all had multiple hits for the Bisons. Terrence Norman (2-for-5) and Alex Carballo (2-for-5) had multiple hits for the Owls. Lipscomb’s defense played well, employing a bend-but-don’t-break strategy. The Owls had the bases loaded, but the Bisons were able to get the outs they needed to escape the inning without much damage. By the middle of end of the fifth inning, the Owls had stranded more than 10 runners on base and Lipscomb led 5-1. On Friday, the Bisons beat the Owls 6-3 for their first ASUN win of the year. Scoring came in the form of a series of RBI in...
by Grant Ledgister | Feb 26, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Monday’s game began with a celebration of Lipscomb basketball seniors Matt Rose, Eli Pepper, Rob Marberry, Garrison Mathews and Nate Moran. The celebrations didn’t end until well after the Bisons left Allen Arena with an 81-77 victory over the NJIT Highlanders. Three-pointers were the name of the game for Lipscomb (22-6, 13-2 ASUN), as Mathews and Rose started the game with a trio of three-pointers to help the Bisons jump out to an 11-5 lead over the Highlanders (20-10, 8-7 ASUN) at the first media timeout. The threes then kept raining for the Bisons. Lipscomb never surrendered the lead in the first half and took a 39-28 lead into the break. Mathews made three shots from long range in the first 20 minutes and finished with six total three-pointers. “The past few games I’ve been shooting it [terribly],” Mathews said. “It’s kind of the time of the season where everybody’s tired, everybody’s sore. It’s tough. I just needed to get a little confidence back.” Lipscomb’s defense in the first half was also stellar. The Bisons forced five turnovers and held the ASUN’s third-leading scorer in Zach Cooks to three points. But NJIT made the game close in the second half. Even though the Highlanders got into foul trouble early in the half, they were able to close the gap to just one point with 10 minutes left. Soon after, the Bisons gave up the lead for the first time, and the game became a back-and-forth affair for several minutes. There were several moments when it looked like Lipscomb would open the game back up, including a sequence with a...
by Grant Ledgister | Feb 10, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb has defended its home court well this season. The Bisons held again with an 86-77 victory over Jacksonville University Saturday at Allen Arena. The game started out with the fast pace and intensity that is customary to a Bisons team that leads the ASUN in points per game, and the team jumped out to an early four-point lead. It looked like Lipscomb (20-4, 11-0 ASUN) might cruise to another victory. The Dolphins (11-15, 4-7 ASUN) had other plans. Jacksonville would quickly tie the game up again. The Bisons tried to consistently change the lineup but could not find one that allowed them to open the half up. “We couldn’t get any real rhythm and make a run to extend the lead,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “They were playing well; I felt like we just had to keep trying different combinations to see what would work the best.” From then on, the half was a back-and-forth affair, one that consisted of a total of 15 lead changes and five ties that lasted for over four-and-a-half minutes of game time. Near the end of a frustrating half for the Bisons, senior guard Garrison Mathews committed a technical foul directly after senior forward Eli Pepper had committed a personal. Jacksonville had the game tied up again after four free throws. Mathews, the leading scorer in the ASUN conference, had an otherwise quiet night by his standards. The Dolphins were able to keep him under control, as he shot 5-of-11 and totaled 16 points. Lipscomb jumped out to an eight-point lead coming out of the second half. The Bisons would never...
