Lipscomb entered Senior Night with the number two seed wrapped up for the ASUN tournament.
But they certainly played like the tournament had already started. Seeking their second-straight 20-win campaign in the regular season finale, the Lipscomb Bisons (20-9, 10-4 ASUN) took down the Kennesaw State Owls (10-19, 6-8 ASUN) 83-74 without surrendering the lead or even a tie.
Prior to the game, Lipscomb honored seniors Asa Duvall, Aaron Korn and George Brammeier. Alexander said the veterans “made a huge impact on our team” during their careers.
“Not necessarily with career stats, but been exactly the kind of guys that we think Lipscomb deserves. They’re leaving this program much better than the way that they found it, and, you know, any time you can say that then you’ve done your job.”
Junior center Rob Marberry led the Bisons in scoring for the 10th time this season, shooting 13-of-15 on field goals and 6-of-6 on free throws for 32 points.
“My teammates, they’re some of the best passers in the league,” Marberry said. “And so I can always count on them to give me a perfect pass.” Four of his field goals were dunks. He added a team-high 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
“I’ve got the flu right now,” Marberry said, “so … I lost a couple pounds doing that.”
Leading scorer Garrison Mathews put in a bit of an uncharacteristic performance for Lipscomb, shooting 4-of-11 on field goals and 5-of-7 on free throws for 14 points.
At the end of the first half, Mathews banked in a double-clutch desperation three with time about to expire. The Bisons returned to the locker room at halftime with a 44-33 lead.
Another key play came in the second half with 12:54 left.In the blink of an eye, junior forward Eli Pepper dunked home a missed three-pointer that bounced off the rim, once again electrifying the audience.
The Bisons held their largest lead at 49-33 with 18:33 left in the second half, and never let the lead go below six the rest of the way.
For the Owls, senior guard Nick Masterson led the team with 30 points, shooting 12-of-16 on field goals, 4-of-4 on three-pointers, and 2-of-2 on free throws. He also added a team-high two steals.
Lipscomb out-rebounded the Owls 27-24. The Bisons are the 16th-best rebounding team in the nation, pulling down 39.6 boards per game.
The ASUN tournament begins Monday. Lipscomb plays seventh-seeded Stetson University (12-19, 4-10 ASUN) in Allen Arena at 7:00 PM.