by Spencer Boehme | Dec 13, 2018 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
Let’s all take a moment and acknowledge how much this one hurt to watch. Lipscomb’s men’s basketball team (7-3) took an exciting road trip to face a tough ACC squad in Louisville (7-3) and lost an excruciating nail-biter, 72-68, on Wednesday night. The Bisons proved that they have the talent to compete with the majority of schools in college basketball. They were just too sloppy to get it done. “[Louisville’s] one of the nation’s best,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said following the loss. “[Louisville coach] Chris [Mack] has done an amazing job with them up to this point. I’m glad we came in here and fought.” And it might have played out differently had Bisons junior guard Kenny Cooper collected an open defensive rebound and then avoided a turnover — all within the last 66 seconds. But let’s get justifiably optimistic here. The fact that the Bisons stayed as competitive as they did against an ACC powerhouse just might be the final straw in proving that this year’s team is the most legitimate Lipscomb men’s basketball program since the NAIA days. “We beat a really, really, really good team tonight,” Mack said. “And our team knew that coming in. All you have to do is look at last year with them being in the tournament, playing Carolina tooth-and-nail, bringing back virtually their entire team.” But it was a sloppy, sloppy game for the Bisons. They had so many opportunities to score in the paint, but they couldn’t handle the ball well. The Bisons were also out-rebounded, and they watched some of their tallest players get in foul trouble (senior...
by Spencer Boehme | Dec 5, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Two installments of the Battle of the Boulevard brought two heartbreaking finishes for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team. That’s the story after the Belmont Bruins (7-1) bested the Lipscomb Bisons (6-2) by a score of 76-74 in a crowded Curb Event Center Tuesday night. Down by two, Lipscomb had 0.8 seconds to score a game-tying or a game-winning shot off a throw-in from the goal side, but redshirt senior guard Nate Moran missed a three-point attempt that bounced around the rim and fell to the floor with no time left. “It was a good shot by a good shooter, and it didn’t go in,” Lipscomb head coach Casey Alexander said. “And so we lost.” Lipscomb’s starting five brought a mixed bag to the court. Senior forward Rob Marberry was the only player who scored more than 10 points for the Bisons, bringing in 26 points and four assists. He also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds. On the flip side, senior guard Garrison Mathews scored just five points, and senior forward Eli Pepper committed five fouls and exited the contest with 9:57 remaining. “I’ll give Belmont a lot of credit for doing a great job guarding [Mathews],” Alexander said. “And [I’ll] give Garrison a lot of credit for just staying within the game and taking what came to him instead of trying to do too much.” Alexander also said that Pepper “gives us so much versatility defensively, that we were scrambling a little bit.” Meanwhile, Belmont freshman center Nick Muszynski dropped a team-leading 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The first half was incredibly competitive. With 9:43...
by Spencer Boehme | Dec 4, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Lack of shot accuracy and a stout Belmont defense haunted the Lipscomb women’s basketball team on Tuesday night, as they lost 83-43 to Belmont at the Curb Event Center in the annual Battle of the Boulevard. Belmont spread the ball well, as junior forward Ellie Harmeyer and freshman forward Conley Chinn each scored 15 points. “Well, they’re just solid,” Lipscomb head coach Greg Brown said. “Their positioning, I mean, is exactly what we thought it would be. They did a great job taking the paint away and making [us] shoot over-the-top.” The Bruins (5-3) out-rebounded the Lady Bisons, 49-27. Brown attributed that statistic to his team’s “lack of pursuit.” “You gotta get to the weak-side boards, and when you get there, you have to pursue [the ball]” Brown said. Freshman guard Jane Deason put up a team-high 11 points on 3-of-10 field goal shooting for the Lady Bisons. Junior guard Lauren Rau led the Lady Bisons with 4 assists and tied for a second-best nine points. “I thought Jane and Lauren Rau played hard,” Brown said. “I thought they did — tried to do some things well. We still just played too fast at times and [held] the ball too much.” The Lady Bisons also suffered from a 23.6 shooting percentage (13-of-55 on field goals). They were also missing height on the court. Redshirt sophomore forward Emily Kmec and freshman forward Kailey Rosenbaum both did not play. Things were competitive in the early-going. The Lady Bisons were only down 9-8 after a Carleigh Short three-pointer at the 6:37 mark. But then the Bruins went on a 21-0 scoring run...
by Spencer Boehme | Dec 1, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Garrison Mathews continues to highlight the Lipscomb men’s basketball team’s success, and Saturday’s game was no exception. The senior guard led Lipscomb with 29 points to help the Bisons (6-1) defeat the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (3-5) by a score of 84-74 at Murphy Center. “Here’s why he’s good,” coach Casey Alexander said of Mathews. “I mean, you look at his numbers. Obviously, you see 29 points, but he got eight of ’em from inside the arc. He got 12 of ’em from outside the arc. He got nine of ’em from the free-throw line. There just aren’t many guys that can score on all three levels at that clip.” Although the Bisons finished the first half down by one point, they stayed a step ahead in the second half, maintaining a double-digit lead numerous times. “When you have all the offensive talent that we have, they can’t just focus on me, they’re going to focus on everybody else on the floor,” Mathews said. Senior forward Eli Pepper put up the best defensive performance for the Bisons, grabbing eight defensive rebounds, four steals and two blocks. “He can play all over the floor,” Alexander said. “And so that’s a great asset for us defensively. And that’s his role. Be a good defender, and then be a great rebounder.” For the Blue Raiders, redshirt junior guard Antonio Green lit up the scoreboard, shooting 10-of-23 to finish with 30 points. Junior forward Reggie Scurry grabbed a team-leading six rebounds for Middle Tennessee. But the Blue Raiders out-fouled Lipscomb 24-18 and had just over half the amount of assists...
by Spencer Boehme | Nov 25, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
MOREHEAD, Ky. – After grabbing two impressive road wins over SMU and No. 18 TCU, the Lipscomb men’s basketball team continued their impressive run with a defensive shutdown over an OVC program. The Bisons grabbed an 87-55 road victory over the Morehead State Eagles (2-4) Sunday, improving their record to 5-1 on the season. “What I was most concerned about with our team was the mentality that we took to the floor,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “And what I just told them post-game was, I was as pleased as I’ve been in a long time at our effort and desire to just play well.” Redshirt freshman Ahsan Asadullah led Lipscomb with a 15-point performance. 11 total Bisons registered points in the blowout victory. “It was good to see [Asadullah] get back in there and contribute,” Alexander said. “He’s given us good minutes, but he’s gone dry scoring it since the Sewanee game to open the season.” Meanwhile, senior forward Rob Marberry finished second in scoring for Lipscomb. He converted on five of his eight field goal attempts and finished 3-of-4 on free throws for 13 points. Marberry said that the third-consecutive road win “shows that we’re not just the hometown players.” “We want to win every game and not just kind of glide through the season,” he said. The Eagles, who struggled to gain much momentum on either side of the ball, were led by senior forward Lamontray Harris, who scored 15 points. Senior guard A.J. Hicks had a team-high four assists. The game was close at first. With 11:48 left in the first half, the Bisons led...
