by Danny Kotula | Jan 3, 2022 | News Slider, Sports
As the 2022 calendar year kicks off, many of Lipscomb’s athletics teams are preparing for action this winter and spring. In the spirit of the New Year’s holiday, here are resolutions each sport in action this semester might have heading into a new year. Baseball Resolution: remember the bitter taste of last year’s exit. Lipscomb baseball might be the most underrated team on campus, and their difficult first-round loss to Kennesaw State in the ASUN Tournament was not a fitting way for their season to end. They lost 14-1 and 10-2 in a pair of blowouts in north Georgia after splitting the season series 3-3 with the Owls in the regular season. This year, the Bisons should have a chip on their shoulder to avoid a similar exit from the postseason in 2022. The baseball season kicks off February 18-20 at Dugan Field when the Bisons host the Akron Zips on their opening weekend. Lipscomb will look to build on last year’s 18-29 record. Men’s Basketball Resolution: fix the turnover margin. Gift-giving season is over, and the Bisons need to stop giving away possession on cheap passing errors and mental mistakes. The last time Lipscomb held the ball and were effective with their possessions was their last real success, a 19-point win over mid-major giants Dayton in their home arena. With conference play starting and star center Ahsan Asadullah returning from a 9-game absence for injury, now is the perfect time to limit the turnovers and score more effectively. The team enters the new year with a tight win over Alabama A&M to up their overall record to 7-8,...
by Abigail Kopp | Dec 31, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team won to the Alabama A&M’s Bulldogs 66-63 Thursday night in a close whiplash of a battle at Allen Arena, home of the Bisons. A principal player for the night was freshman forward Jacob Ognacevic, spending 29 minutes on the court and making 16 points for the Bisons. Not only did he lead the team in points, but he also lead them in rebounds, producing 8 of them. Sophomore guard KJ Johnson made 12 points for the Bisons, including 6-7 free throw shooting at crucial times in the game. Freshman guard Will Pruitt got 7 rebounds as well as made 3-4 three-pointers, gathering a total of 11 points for the team. A highlight of the night was seeing junior center Ahsan Asadullah join the court for the first time since his injury, playing a total of 17 minutes. Atlanta-born Asadullah stepped onto the court for the first time in over a month due to his leg injury, getting cheers from the sidelines and spectators, especially when he scored his first 7 points for the team since November. Alabama A&M led off with the ball, but it was quickly turned over to Lipscomb and back again to the Bulldogs in which EJ Williams scored the first two points for Alabama with a layup. Johnson missed an attempt to respond, and freshman point guard Will Pruitt made a jumper on an offensive rebound, bringing them even with Alabama A&M early. Pruitt added a 3-pointer on the next possession, but the Bulldogs quickly pulled a 3-pointer back thanks to Garrett Hicks, who led the visitors with 19 points....
by Danny Kotula | Dec 30, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s basketball team lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils 70-54 Thursday afternoon in a hastily-scheduled non-conference contest at Weatherup Center in Tempe, Arizona. It was a bizarre game from the get-go in a matchup with just two days’ notice, as the Bisons replaced UCLA as ASU’s opponent when the Bruins could not play their originally scheduled game. Lipscomb’s schedule was opened up after their contest against Cincinnati was vacated due to COVID-19 protocols. “We prepared the same as always,” assistant coach Chris Sumski said in a statement. “Our players are ready to play any time, any place. Shout out to Arizona State for adding us to the schedule last minute after Cincinnati cancelled, even with a couple of their players out.” Due to lighting issues at Desert Financial Arena, their typical home venue, the matchup took place at Arizona State’s practice facility without fans and most media members. Leading the Bisons was sophomore guard Blythe Pearson, scoring a team-high 11 points and pulling down 5 rebounds. Senior center and Kentucky transfer Dorie Harrison added 9 points, 3 rebounds and a block, while 4th-year guard Casey Coller grabbed a team-leading 6 rebounds and played in all 40 minutes for Lipscomb. Lipscomb stayed step-for-step with ASU early on, as sophomore point guard Jordan Peete and Pearson matched a two- and three-pointer from the Sun Devils to make the score 5-5 three minutes in. Both teams scored efficiently in the first quarter, as the two sides combined to shoot 13-25, with Lipscomb shooting an unprecedented 60% from the floor. “Our team cares more about ‘we’ scoring than ‘I’ scoring,”...
by Danny Kotula | Dec 28, 2021 | News Slider, Radio, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s basketball team will no longer play their scheduled contest Wednesday at Cincinnati, according to a statement from Lipscomb Athletics Tuesday morning. Instead, the Bisons will travel to Arizona to play the Pac-12’s Arizona State Sun Devils. That game will take place 3 pm Central time Thursday in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. For the third time this season, Lipscomb will travel to the western half of the country for an away game. The Bisons’ first two games came in Utah against BYU and Utah, respectively, and the Purple and Gold also played against the Colorado State Rams in November in Fort Collins, Colorado. The Bisons lost all three of those contests. Lipscomb’s second Pac-12 matchup this year will take place at Weatherup Center, Arizona State’s practice facility, due to the short notice. Because of the space limitations at the facility, fans and most media members are not permitted to attend. This will be the Sun Devils’ second-straight game at Weatherup Center after lighting issues at their primary facility, Desert Financial Arena, forced a venue switch in their win over UC Irvine. The Bisons are 5-7 on the year after a 4th-quarter comeback win last time out. Arizona State enters the game with a 7-5 record, having won 5 of their last 6 contests. The Sun Devils have a 5-1 record in home contests, while Lipscomb is just 1-5 away from home. The Bisons and Sun Devils will square off for the first time in series history. Their only common opponent this season is BYU, who beat both teams at home in Provo, Utah. Senior guard Jade...
by Gracie Simpson | Dec 26, 2021 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
Picking up your whole life in Barcelona, Spain, and moving to the U.S. to get a degree and play tennis isn’t the easiest thing to do. But this is exactly what fifth-year senior Gonzalo Garcia-Nieto did. “Once you get to a certain level where you get out of high school, you have to decide if you want to keep doing that sport and try to go professional or go pursue a college degree,” said Garcia-Nieto. “It is very hard to do both things at the same time [in Spain], so I thought that America was the perfect spot for me,” said Garcia-Nieto. While moving halfway around the world may sound difficult, it was easy compared to what he has dealt with since moving to the United States. A transfer from Tennessee Tech, a back injury that included surgery, and a pandemic later, he is happy to be at Lipscomb. “Whenever we got that extra year of eligibility, I knew I wanted to come back [to Lipscomb to play tennis],” said Garcia-Nieto. Right before COVID hit, the men’s tennis team was on track to win the conference tournament. Beginning the season 9-1, it was the best starting record in program history. “I believe as a team we have unfinished business. My first goal whenever I transferred here from Tennessee Tech was to win the conference tournament at Lipscomb,” said Garcia-Nieto. He now has two seasons at Lipscomb under his belt, and he is heading into his third season. Carlos Salas, a teammate, friend, and fellow native of Barcelona, Spain, praised Garcia-Nieto. “At the beginning, we didn’t get along very well...
by Lumination Staff | Dec 24, 2021 | News Slider, Student Spotlight
With Christmas approaching, journalist-in-residence Tim Ghianni asked his writing lab students to reflect on their holidays and family traditions. A Columbian Christmas Christmas time in Colombia is very different from here. From my experience, Christmas in Franklin, Tennessee, is very magical just like in the movies, with the Christmas tree downtown, the lights, the decorations around the town, the weather and, if we are lucky, the snow. Christmas in Colombia is more about celebrating with the family and all the parties and reunions start as soon as December starts. There is a tradition that nine days before Christmas we go to a different house each day where we read Jesus’ story, eat traditional Christmas dishes and sing. Then on the 24th we all dress up, prepare a lot of food and put the presents under the tree; at 12 p.m. the kids from the family become the “elves” and start passing out the presents. But we create a dynamic to make it more fun, the elves give each person a gift and then each person has to describe whoever they are giving their gift to and everyone has to guess who it is for. After opening the presents we sometimes play games, dance and all the kids play with their new presents.They are very different, but I like both a lot. I like it here because it’s very magical and beautiful. And in Colombia, I like it because there’s a lot of celebration, music and food. I get very nostalgic during Christmas because all my family is in Colombia and I miss the traditions but overall Christmas is my favorite...
