by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 7, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Just four teams remain in the ASUN tournament, and only two will still be standing after tonight. No. 1 Lipscomb and No. 5 NJIT will battle at Allen Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday, while North Florida and Liberty will clash for the other spot. The two semifinal winners will then meet for the ASUN tournament title on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT (TV: ESPN). The Bisons hold a 7-2 series lead over the Highlanders, but NJIT nearly pulled an upset on Lipscomb’s Senior Night on Feb. 25. Four late free throws from senior Garrison Mathews helped Lipscomb fend off NJIT’s furious second-half comeback attempt, and the Bisons pulled out an 81-77 victory. But on Jan. 16, the two programs met in Newark, New Jersey, and the result was much different. Behind 23 points from Rob Marberry and 17 from Matt Rose, the Bisons cruised to a 70-52 victory over the Highlanders. You can listen to tonight’s game LIVE HERE on Lumination Radio or watch it on ESPN+. BREAKING DOWN THE HIGHLANDERS: NJIT (21-11) finished the regular season on a sour note by losing six of its final eight games. But the Highlanders made up for that by upsetting No. 4 Florida Gulf Coast by a score of 83-78 in Monday’s ASUN quarterfinal in Fort Myers, Florida. Highlander guards Zach Cooks and Diandre Wilson were both outstanding and combined to score 51 points. Big-bodied forward Abdul Lewis, an ASUN first teamer, added 18 points of his own in 37 minutes of action. The victory was NJIT’s first postseason win in program history. The Highlanders joined the ASUN conference for the...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 7, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
For as difficult as the 2018-19 season was for the Lipscomb women’s basketball team, it couldn’t have ended in a better way. Junior Carleigh Short banked a three just as the clock expired in overtime, giving the Lady Bisons a 72-69 victory over Kennesaw State at Allen Arena Tuesday. “The basketball gods smiled on us for once this season,” Lipscomb coach Greg Brown said. “It’s good to end that way and get a little bit of momentum to carry us forward.” Lipscomb closed the year with a dismal 4-25 record (2-14 ASUN) and missed the conference tournament for the first time since 2013. The Lady Bisons averaged 21 turnovers per game and shot just 34 percent from the field for the season. “It’s wild how well we’ve played at times versus how poorly we played at other times,” Brown said. “It’s been one extreme or the other. They continued to practice hard and do things well, but they just hadn’t been rewarded.” Was Tuesday’s victory a sign of good things to come? The evidence says that’s a possibility. The Lady Bisons don’t have any seniors, so their entire roster will return, including top scorers Taylor Clark (11.1 PPG) and Lauren Rau (8.5 PPG). Kaylee Cotton took a redshirt due to an injury and will be back next season. They’ve also added three high school signees, and Butler transfer Sydney Shelton will be eligible after sitting out this year. “Not having a senior is definitely weird, but it also gave the freshman and us juniors time to mature,” Short said. “I really think that next year, with three new people...
by Martin Baker | Mar 6, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons wrapped up a long season with an overtime victory over Kennesaw State on Tuesday evening, thanks to a game winning three-point shot in overtime by junior Carleigh Short. “The basketball gods smiled on us for once this season,” head coach Greg Brown said. The game went into overtime with both teams tied 60-60 after a neck-and-neck match that Lipscomb led going into the fourth quarter. Overtime was back and forth with junior Lauren Rau making the basket to tie it up 69-69 in the final minute. There was less than five seconds on the clock when Short charged down court and let the ball fly to score the game winner, making the final score 72-69. It’s not often that a game is decided by a single shot, but Short said these scenarios are the kind the team has practiced for. “Honestly any one of us could have hit that shot,” Short said. “It’s something we practice, and I would have trusted it in the hands of anybody.” “We practice some of those,” Brown added. “She just did what she’s been doing. We talked about just get it and go because they’re telling them don’t foul.” Short said a lot went through her mind in those last five seconds of the game. “What went through my head first was ‘Oh, there’s five seconds left, and coach is saying ‘Go!’’” Short said. But Short wasn’t the only member of the Lady Bisons to contribute to their victory, although she was the second leading scorer for her team with a total of 17 points. No. 22 Taylor Clark also...
by Ashley Bingham | Mar 5, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Student Spotlight
Tumi Mfoloe, a junior animation student at Lipscomb, accidentally stumbled upon her passion early last year when she was able to self-publish her first novel. In January of 2018, Mfoloe self-published her book, The Meeting, on Amazon under the pen name Tumi Yukii. Soon after, it became available for purchase at Barnes and Noble. She first developed the idea for the book while reading stories on a site called Wattpad, a place where aspiring writers can share their works for free. She claimed that many of the stories that she read all sounded the same, so she took it upon herself to write something different, not really expecting it to go anywhere. Her story features two musicians from New York, Tumi and John, who meet each other on a night out. Unlike other romantic novels Mfoloe had read, this couple has a different type of relationship from that of what is normally seen in media these days. It shows the story of a Christian couple that focuses on the importance of communication in a relationship, along with the decision to save its first kiss as a couple for marriage. “What I love about Tumi and John and everyone else in the book is that they will sit and have a conversation—they’re open to communication,” Mfoloe said. Mfoloe received incredibly positive feedback from her story after it was posted online, as her story was read over 200,000 times. Because of this, she decided to rewrite it and publish it into a novel. “If these people online have liked my book and have said all these great things about it, then probably...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 5, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The odds were in favor of the Lipscomb men’s basketball team during Monday night’s ASUN quarterfinal matchup against Kennesaw State. Not only were the Owls without head coach Al Skinner, who recently resigned, but leading scorer Tyler Hooker (19 points per game) also missed the contest after taking an elbow to the face last week. Despite 25 points from Danny Lewis and 18 more from Bobby Parker, the No. 1 Bisons were able to fend off the pesky No. 8 Owls for an 86-71 victory at Allen Arena. The win propelled Lipscomb (24-6) to the ASUN semifinals, where it will host No. 5 NJIT on Thursday at 7 p.m. Lipscomb guard Kenny Cooper registered a rare triple-double by scoring 15 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists. It was just the second triple-double in the program’s NCAA Division I era — the first came when Josh Slater had 10 points, 12 assists and 10 steals on Feb. 17, 2011 against USC Upstate. “I’m really proud of Kenny,” Alexander said. “Our team’s a lot better when he’s aggressive and making plays. He had seven assists at halftime, which is the most impressive part of it to me. That shows that he’s engaged, pushing the tempo and making plays for himself and others.” ASUN Player of the Year and Lipscomb senior Garrison Mathews dropped 26 points and nailed five three-pointers. Fellow senior teammate Rob Marberry finished 8-of-9 from the field in a 16-point effort. “It’s tough to beat us when Rob plays great inside and goes 8-for-9,” Mathews said. “You can go down the list…Eli [Pepper], [Michael] Buckland, Ahsan...
by Kathryn Farris | Mar 5, 2019 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
The sounds of the latest Jonas Brothers single are echoing through dorm room halls across campus. A scene such as this hasn’t happened in almost six years, but last Friday the childhood boyband staple released a new single titled “Sucker.” “Sitting there, listening to the song with all my friends, brought me back to my eleventh birthday party,” history education major Madeline Knight said. “I had a bunch of friends over to watch the premiere of their new show Jonas.” When Knight first heard the song, she said it got her reminiscing for her childhood. “It really reminded me of the old Jonas Brothers, but with a grown-up spin.” The new music from the familiar band is driving a sense of nostalgia that has skyrocketed the single to the No. 1 spot in the official trending chart. As well as No. 1 on several streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. But it’s not only the new single that’s gaining success. The music video, featuring the Jonas Brothers with their respective wives and girlfriend, is also catching attention. “There was a lot going on in that music video, but I do love how they all featured their significant others,” psychology major Chloé Phillips said. While some praise the boyband’s revitalization of their sound, other students argued that they should have stuck to the classic “Jo Bros style.” “They started off with one style, and I’ve always been into that kind of style, so now that they’re leaning towards pop, it’s just kind of sad,” music production major Neida Flores said. “I didn’t expect that . . . [but] even...
