by Spencer Boehme | Mar 3, 2018 | News Slider
You probably wouldn’t know the hotel was there if it weren’t for a small roadside sign reading “Bison Inn” with an arrow pointing towards the interior of Lipscomb’s campus. That sign directs guests from Belmont Boulevard into the northern end of campus, where within the walls of Bison Hall rests a nine-room hotel on the bottom floor. Both Lipscomb Now and Lumination Network featured the hotel in January. Lumination spoke with manager Bodhi Dark on Wednesday to provide an update on Bison Inn. “We’re definitely picking up some traction in the community and the greater Lipscomb community,” Dark said. “Kind of being mostly alumni (sic) and parents that we’re trying to get the word out to right now.” While the numbers in the hotel haven’t yet skyrocketed, Dark said he’s happy with the overall progress. “I’d say that we’ve been averaging probably 50 percent occupancy this whole month. This month particularly was pretty busy.” Dark said that one challenge in terms of outsider perspective is that people seem to focus on the dorm setting when considering Bison Inn. “That stigma, even though we kind of fight against that, is still something that’s really hard to kind of communicate, I guess.” Meanwhile, Bison Hall residents have raised parking concerns with the development. Nine Bison Hall parking spots are now accompanied by signposts indicating that only guests may park there. Dark said that students can use reserved spots during daytime hours but not nighttime hours. Guests can also take advantage of passes for roadside parking by the front of the hotel. “I’m here to serve students as much as I’m here...
by Parker Bell | Mar 3, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
The Lady Bisons opened the first round of the ASUN conference tournament with a dominant 42-point win over the No. 5 seed USC Upstate. Lipscomb cruised against USC Upstate in a 95-53 victory to reach the tournament semifinals for the first time since 2008. The win margin set a record for the largest victory in an ASUN conference tournament game. Lipscomb fell to USC Upstate earlier in the regular season 80-64. “With a sense of finality for these seniors, they played with greater aggressiveness and awareness during the game,” coach Greg Brown said. Both teams came out hot from behind the arc. Emily Kmec nailed a three-pointer from deep, and it was answered by three from Anda Kuzmina. The three-point shooting was followed by droughts for both teams. Solid defense from the Bisons’ 2-3 set forced seven turnovers in the first quarter and a dry spell that lasted 4:11. Poor shooting and turnovers held Lipscomb back on the offensive end. They finished the low scoring quarter with a lead of 15-10 behind some handiwork in the paint from Taylor Clark. Kmec started the second quarter off right with another three, followed by another two possessions later. She finished the night with 18 points, hitting six of nine from three. Kmec also grabbed four boards. Midway through the second quarter Loren Cagle displayed her skills in a dazzling play in which she dribbled through the defense and then back out to nail a three-pointer. This was followed by a three on the next possession from Kennedy Potts assisted by Cagle, who was named ASUN player of the year earlier in...
by Cavin Jacobson | Mar 2, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider
Lipscomb University’s campus security has been hard at work since two cars were stolen from campus on February 11th. Campus Chief of Security Patrick Cameron said that after the local crime spree over Valentine’s day and the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fla., campus security has made several new changes, including recovering one of the two stolen cars. “We are now closing the parking lot behind high rise at 10:00 PM,” said Cameron. He said 30 new surveillance cameras were installed Feb. 28. The theft coincided with a Valentine’s Day crime wave in Green Hills that included violent robberies at gunpoint and an unrelated shooting at the Green Hills library. Nashville police charged two teenagers in connection with the robberies shortly after the fact, then formed a task force to combat violent crime by teens. It is not known whether or not any of those crimes are related to the car break-ins on campus. Cameron said campus security is in close communication with Nashville Metro and the task force regarding local criminal activity. Campus security also communicates with the security offices of Belmont and Vanderbilt and let each other in on any developments across each other’s campus. “We are always communicating with [Belmont and Vanderbilt’s] campus securities,” Cameron said. “We meet monthly.” The most important thing, Cameron said, was that security keeps doing the procedures already set in place. “We are always reevaluating given the circumstances. Times like this remind us to exercise caution and to stick with our current procedures.”...
by Spencer Boehme | Mar 2, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Garrison Mathews scored a team-high 23 points as Lipscomb defeated Jacksonville in a 77-62 victory to send the Bisons to their first ASUN championship game since 2006. The Bisons (22-9) entered Thursday’s game against the Jacksonville Dolphins (15-18) in an attempt to break a three-game losing streak in the conference semifinals. They did just that, winning the shooting percentage battle 45.8 percent to 41.8 percent and the assist battle 19-9. The Bisons head to FGCU on Sunday for the championship. “You walk in there, and it’s 0-0,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said of the upcoming game, “and you’re playing a great team in a great environment in a championship game, so you’ve got to expect their best.” One of the biggest keys of the game for the Bisons was limiting redshirt senior guard Devin Harris and sophomore guard Tanner Rubio to a combined 2-of-15 on field goals. Both players were starters. “Our main objective was to try to shut [Harris] down and keep him away from the basket,” Lipscomb junior center Rob Marberry said. “I think we did a good job of that in the first half, and in the second half we carried over.” Dolphins’ freshman guard JD Notae, who had scooped up the ASUN Freshman of the Year award, missed his third straight game due to an injury. Redshirt senior forward Cody Helgeland scored nine of Jacksonville’s 23 field goals for a team-high 24 points. Freshman guard Jalyn Hinton scored all 12 of the Dolphins’ points off the bench. Junior forward Eli Pepper led the Bisons with eight rebounds, while Harris gave the Dolphins a team-high 11....
by Erin Franklin | Mar 2, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Former Lipscomb goalkeeper Micah Bledsoe helped lead Nashville SC to a 2-0 victory against the Bisons on Thursday night at the Lipscomb soccer complex. Bledsoe, who spent last season with USL Cup champions, Louisville City, just recently signed his contract with Nashville Soccer Club on Feb. 10. The 6-foot-4 starting keeper graduated as Lipscomb’s all-time leader in wins (26), save percentage (.735) and clean sheets (15). “It is a little weird (playing your old team), but as soon as the game kicks off, you forget about it pretty quickly,” Bledsoe said. “But it was a little interesting, a little surreal.” In addition to Bledsoe, three recent Lipscomb grads also got a chance to play on their previous home turf as “trialists” — Ivan Alvarado, Ivan Sakou and Eduardo Reza. Despite the second-half surge, Nashville SC’s head coach Gary Smith said he pinpointed some challenges his team faced in the game that he wants his players to improve upon and fix. The whole first half remained neck-and-neck, with a similar amount of possession for each team. At the end of the first half, Lipscomb and Nashville SC remained tied 0-0, despite each tallying a number of shooting opportunities. “The younger group started . . .and it was nice to see our first USL group, and then the (second) group came on, and, in fairness, dominated the game but couldn’t score,” Smith said. “We had some challenges — they (Lipscomb) set very deep — that we have to look at and work out.” Goals from Ian McGrath and Martin Galvao sealed the win over Lipscomb in the second half. Galvao also...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 1, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb women’s basketball senior Loren Cagle has accomplished just about every imaginable personal feat in her four-year career with the Lady Bisons. The point guard has racked up 1,092 career points and 521 career assists, while being named ASUN Player of the Week four times and listed on the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch list twice. The Nashville-native can now add ASUN Player of the Year to her list of accolades, after the conference tabbed her as its best player at an ASUN luncheon on Thursday. “I’ve been fortunate to be around some great players, but she’s been unbelievable,” Lipscomb coach Greg Brown said. “She’s a stat-line filler, from the rebounding to the blocked shots to the steals. She’s handled a lot of pressure with great composure and poise.” Despite the personal accomplishments, Cagle and her fellow seniors have yet to win an ASUN tournament game. The Lady Bisons (11-18, 7-7 ASUN) can change that when USC Upstate comes to town for the ASUN quarterfinals on Friday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Allen Arena. Individually speaking, Cagle is currently enjoying the best statistical season of her career, averaging 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. The emergence of young point guards like Lauren Rau and Lexi Manos has allowed opportunities for Cagle to become a more dynamic scorer. “[Cagle’s] teammates have been a great complement to her,” Brown said. “They’ve done a great job of getting her open with ball screens and having teammates that can knock down shots has given her space to operate this season.” For Cagle, a Lipscomb Academy graduate and self-proclaimed homebody, signing with Brown and...
