After a huge win over Belmont, the Lipscomb Bisons were ready for another A-Sun match-up. They have won the previous two games and were looking for the third straight win to continue their streak.
The Bisons were wanting to improve on three major things for the Stetson game.
“Field goal defense, turnovers and rebounds,” Coach Sanderson said.
The first half was a back-and-forth scoring match where the Bisons and the Stetson Hatters tied five times and the lead changed six times.
Within two minutes Stetson’s head coach called a timout when the score was tied. Head Coach Derek Waugh eventually received a technical foul in the second half for his behavior. For most of the game Coach Waugh looked disheveled.
Throughout the game, the Bisons presented good teamwork with passing around the perimeter and in the paint, and started taking control of the game towards the end of the first and went into the locker room on top, 33-to-26.
Lipscomb’s Adnan Hodzic came strong in the first half leading with 10 points, whereas the Hatters’ top scorer Luis Jacobo had 5 points.
The Hatters’ Ridge Graham normally averages almost 14 points a game but was held to zero for the 1st half and was kept to two for the whole game.
“I thought [Brandon Brown and Justin Glenn] did an excellent job and a host of other guys helping double [Graham] up in the low post,” Sanderson said.
Lipscomb let loose a scoring run in the second and kept Stetson under 40 points for over ten minutes while they scored 21 points, putting them at 54 over Stetson’s 40. Stetson was never able to catch up to Lipscomb.
Stetson tried pressing but it could not contain the Bisons.
Fouls came into play when the Hatters had eleven fouls in the second, giving the Bisons a chance to put up 12-of-14 from the line.
The Bisons out-rebounded the Hatters 37-to-32, which according to Coach Sanderson is “a big stat for [the Bisons].” The Bisons also improved from the Belmont game by reducing turnovers by 5 against Stetson.
Defensively, Lipscomb played a zone for most of the game and kept Stetson from scoring in the paint. Offensively, Lipscomb shot over 50% for field goals and over 70% for free throws for the entire game.
Lipscomb’s top scorers were Hodzic with 20 total and Jordan Burgason with 15 total, 12 of those points coming from 3-pointers. Josh Slater had six assists which is 1.5 over his average.
The final score was Lipscomb over Stetson, 82-to-62.
This makes Stetson’s fifth lose in a row putting them 4-6 for the conference and 6-15 overall.
Lipscomb is on a winning streak and is 7-4 in the conference and 12-8 overall. Their next game is a conference game against Florida Gulf Coast, on Sunday, at 2:00 pm, in Allen Arena.
Photo Credit: Erin Channell