Heat, Spurs to battle in NBA Finals rematch

After one of the greatest playoffs in recent memory, the NBA Finals are finally here. This year’s matchup is one almost every basketball fan wanted: a rematch of last year’s outstanding Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. The Heat won last year’s series in seven games, thanks to one of the greatest shots in NBA history (taken by Ray Allen, the greatest 3-point shooter of all time no less) in the waning moments of the now-legendary Game Six. That game also featured a superhuman performance from 4-time league MVP LeBron James and an unheralded collapse from the ever-steady, machine-like Spurs. The series had everything: last second shots, thunderous dunks, role players stepping up and future Hall-of-Famers playing brilliantly. Former Miami Heat player Mike Miller, now a Grizzly, even drained a shot while wearing one shoe. This year’s series provides the veteran Spurs a chance at revenge. They were as close as you can get to winning an NBA championship last year without actually winning it. It could be the last hurrah for the quartet of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and coach Gregg Popovich, but people have been saying that about them for almost a decade now. For the Heat, they have a chance to join the elite of the elite when it comes to great NBA teams. Only Bill Russell’s Celtics, Magic Johnson’s Lakers and Larry Bird’s Celtics had made four straight Finals appearances before the Heat joined them this year. Only Russell’s Celtics, Michael Jordan’s Bulls and the Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant Lakers have ever won three championships in a row. A win...

Trio of Bison track and field athletes compete at NCAA East Preliminaries

The Lipscomb track and field team continued an excellent season this past week with three Bisons competing at the NCAA East Preliminaries. Junior Gemikal Prude and sophomores Colin Dempster and Madi Talbert traveled to Jacksonville for a chance to earn a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Finals. On Thursday, junior Colin Dempster set a new school record in the 400 meters with a time of 47.23 seconds. Dempster broke his own school record of 47.29 which he set during the Atlantic Sun Championships. Although he broke the school record, Dempster did not qualify for the NCAA Finals. Friday saw Talbert finish fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:08.21, good enough to send her to her second straight NCAA Outdoor Finals. Her time set a new school record as well. Prude, no stranger to national competition, became the second Bison to qualify for the Outdoor Finals on Saturday with an eighth place finish in the high jump thanks to a 2.14 mark. Prude and Talbert will be heading to Eugene, Oregon for Nationals, which will take place from June...

Bisons bow out in A-Sun final

In a season that saw great improvement over the last, the 2014 Lipscomb Bisons’ baseball season came to an end on Sunday with a 7-1 loss to Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun Championship final. A win would have put the Bisons in a winner-take-all second match against Kennesaw State, with the victor advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Lipscomb posted a NCAA era school record for wins in a season with 33, and the Bisons also set a new team record for winning percentage with a 33-28 mark. The Bisons scored their lone run for the game in the second inning thanks to a hit from senior catcher Nick Rome that scored junior designated hitter Tyson Ashcraft. After an Owls scored a run in the third frame, the game remained knotted at one run apiece until Kennesaw scored three runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. The Bisons had two players, juniors Grant Massey and Ian Martinez-McGraw, earn All-Tournament honors. Seniors Drew Adams, Jacob Knott, Conor Moynihan, Nick Rome, Chad Shannon and Weston Wolfe all played in their final game as a Bison. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Bisons defeat top-ranked FGCU with eighth-inning rally

The Lipscomb Bisons baseball team upset the top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Thursday night in their second game of the Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship thanks to a late game rally. The Bisons scored three go-ahead runs in the eighth inning to take a 5-4 lead. With two outs and two runners on base, junior left-fielder Josh Lee blasted a hit to left field that scored senior right-fielder Drew Adams. Freshman catcher Tyler Bethune was then able to score both Lee and freshman third baseman Hunter Hanks to give Lipscomb the lead. The Bisons notched their first run of the game in the fourth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Lee that sent Adams to home plate, a preview of what would come in the eighth inning. Thanks to their two victories, Lipscomb will not be playing on Friday, but will instead jump back into action on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. against the winner of Florida Gulf Coast and Jacksonville. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Anchor Brian Williams to conduct NBC Nightly News from Bison Square

Longtime NBC News reporter and anchor Brian Williams will be conducting the NBC Nightly News in Bison Square Thursday night. After the news is completed Williams will then make his way over to Allen Arena to make a commencement speech at the graduation ceremony for Hillwood High School seniors. The ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday night, directly following the NBC Nightly News’ completion. Many Hillwood students took part in a campaign that challenged Williams to come and speak at the ceremony, with the campaign culminating in a video that caught the attention of Williams. The Hillwood students were inspired to send the invitation after viewing Williams’ commencement speech at Elon University in 2013. Williams began working for NBC in 1993 as the chief White House correspondent and anchor of the Weekend Nightly News. Williams took over the role of NBC Nightly News anchor from the legendary Tom Brokaw in 2004. In the role of NBC Nightly News Anchor, Williams has won numerous journalism awards including most notably a Peabody Award for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina shortly after taking over the...