by Danny Kotula | Dec 2, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
CHATTANOOGA – The Lipscomb Academy varsity football team won the BlueCross Bowl Division II-AA Tennessee State Championship over the Christ Presbyterian Academy Lions 27-0 Thursday morning at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga. Senior quarterback Luther Richesson led the Mustangs to their first Division II-AA state title, going 16-for-18 in the air for 147 yards, a touchdown and an interception. A matchup rich with storylines brought together two teams with revenge on their minds: after CPA took down Lipscomb in last year’s state championship game, Lipscomb punished the Lions at home in a 38-0 drubbing to win the regular season title. This time around, it was a similar story in a completely new circumstance for the Mustangs in a high-pressure game at the home of the Chattanooga Mocs. “To see what they’ve done, the sacrifices they’ve made, to change a community and to see them get rewarded for it–because you don’t always get rewarded for it–I think they learned a valuable lesson,” head coach and former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer said. “If you do the right things, good things are eventually going to happen.” Partially due to the pressure, the two teams combined for 14 penalties, nine of which went against Lipscomb and three of which were false starts. “It took patience,” Dilfer said. “The penalties were killing us. We kept getting first-down penalties and we’re in second down and 20, second down and 24. I could have run it to punt, but I also wanted to be aggressive.” Tough defense was a recurring theme throughout the game, as Lipscomb’s experienced front seven continued to cause problems for the Lions....
by Gunnar Eng | Dec 1, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
Whether it’s in soccer or frisbee or spikeball competition, students at Lipscomb have plenty of opportunities to compete even if they are not involved with intercollegiate athletics. “Intramurals gives the average student the ability to participate in sports in an organized setting,” Kegan York, director of campus recreation and wellness. “Students can play for prizes such as T-shirts and trophies, while also bringing them together over common things they love, such as soccer, football, and basketball.” The sports for intramurals are ultimately chosen by the students, and have included non-traditional ones like ultimate Frisbee and spikeball. The tournaments and leagues are decided upon by feedback the leadership team gets from surveys they send out to students. “We try to time our surveys that we send out to students for the end of an intramural season or just at the end of the semester,” York said. “We like to cater our intramural schedule based on student participation and the positive feedback we receive for certain sports.” Along with intramurals being a way for students to get involved in competitive sports on campus, they also provide an outlet for stress during the school year. “I think it’s a great and healthy way for students to get out a lot of the stresses they have from their classes,” Jenah Park, graduate assistant for intramurals, said. “Also a lot of people who participate in intramurals played sports in high school, and the sudden transition to not playing anymore can be harsh. So this is a nice way to ease that move.” “I’m very thankful that the school provides this opportunity, and my favorite...
by Micah Kennedy | Dec 1, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
A 44% field goal percentage has propelled the Lipscomb men’s basketball team to a 5-2 start. This clip sits as number one amongst NCAA Division-I programs. The team’s best shooters right now are junior guard Greg Jones (42%), freshman guard Tommy Murr (54%), and freshman forward Jacob Ognacevic (60%). Most recently, the team beat Kentucky Christian decisively by a score of 86-67 and converted from behind the arc 13 times. “When we make threes it gives Ahsan (Asadullah) protection,” head coach Lennie Acuff said, “It means they can’t double him. Our ability to make threes is based off our ball movement and taking good shots.” So far in this season it is apparent that the team is doing just that, as better ball movement is leading to improvements from three. Last season the team shot 35% from three and averaged 7 made threes a game. Now the team is shooting well over 40% and makes 9 threes a game. “We don’t shoot a ton of threes, but I think the threes we’ve been taking are good ones.” Acuff said. “I think our shot selection and role definition lead to that. It’s something we worked on a lot in the offseason realizing it was Achilles’ heel for us last year. I’m proud of our guys that their work is paying off.” It has been an approach of quality over quantity from behind the arc for the Bisons, and it has led to the team’s best start through seven games in the Acuff era of Lipscomb basketball. The next matchup for the team is local rival Belmont University, and only time...
by Camryn Given | Dec 1, 2021 | News, News Slider
Students, family members and Nashville residents gathered on Lipscomb’s campus Tuesday night to celebrate the 17th Lighting of the Green. It is an annual tradition hosted by Amy Grant that ushers its attendees into the holiday mood. Some family-friendly festivities began as early as 4 p.m. including a photo opportunity with Santa for the children and a holiday market with specialty vendors. When the sun went down and the many Christmas lights began to glow brighter, the concert began. The grass outside of the Student Activities Center that usually lies empty was converted into a space for hundreds, complete with a large stage, speakers and seats for guests. Since the event was entirely virtual last year, many expressed their feelings on returning in person. “Are you happy to be back live this year?” asked NewsChannel 5’s Leland Stanton, the emcee for the event. He received delighted applause from the audience. The opening act was Lipscomb Academy’s chorus followed by Amy Grant’s first appearance. Grant has been with the event since its first show almost two decades ago. “I cannot believe we’ve been doing this for 17 years,” said Grant. “It’s so wonderful that you all made the effort – I have no idea where you parked or how far you walked!” Her second song was her own classic “Tennessee Christmas.” CeCe Winans, a well-known gospel artist, performed next. “Alright, it’s Christmas,” Winans said before jumping into her upbeat performance. Let’s have some fun!” There were several other songs from the university choir and Corinna Gill, who is Grant’s daughter. Not only was there abundant Christmas music featured, but some clips...
by Danny Kotula | Nov 29, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team earned a competitive yet comfortable decision over the Kentucky Christian University Knights 86-67 Sunday afternoon. After a home win earlier this month over Division III Birmingham-Southern, Lipscomb improves to 2-0 against non-NCAA Division I opposition. The Knights are members of NAIA’s Appalachian Athletic Conference. Freshman forward Jacob Ognacevic paced the Bisons offensively with 27 points in 27 minutes, going 9 of 15 from the field and making 7 of 8 free throw attempts. A freshman Valparaiso transfer from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Ognacevic added 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 assists for the Bisons. He led the team in both points and rebounds for the afternoon. Alongside Ognacevic, junior guard Greg Jones made four 3-pointers en route to 17 points for Lipscomb, also adding 5 rebounds. Despite 5th-year junior center Ahsan Asadullah not suiting up for Lipscomb due to a minor injury suffered in a loss to Tennessee Tech last week, the Bisons controlled the paint, mostly via graduate student Parker Hazen. The Columbia City, Indiana-born forward contributed 6 of Lipscomb’s 12 points in the paint, ending with 12 points and 5 rebounds. “I’m happy with the team’s effort,” Hazen said. “Obviously, you look at a stat sheet like this, and there’s a lot of basketball things, but one thing you can’t put on a stat sheet is effort. So that’s something we’ll work towards; obviously, we play a great team on Thursday and [again] on Sunday.” Effort will be a key against Belmont and Chattanooga, both of which are top-tier mid-major programs and in-state rivals that will test the Bisons more than NAIA side KCU....
by Danny Kotula | Nov 29, 2021 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb women’s basketball team took down the Life University Running Eagles 72-59 Sunday afternoon. Guards Blythe Pearson and Jordan Peete were the key to Lipscomb’s offensive output, combining for 7-10 3-point shooting and 30 total points. Pearson dropped in a season-high and team-leading 17 points, despite the sophomore wing from Murfreesboro having to play with four fouls for the majority of the second half. “Jordan [Peete] is a fantastic player,” Pearson, a junior shooting guard from Overland Park, Kansas, said. “The way she can drive to the basket definitely pulls the defense so that I get those open shots.” “When [Peete] decides to play aggressive, she’s hard to stop on both ends of the floor,” assistant coach Chris Sumski said. “The effort and competitiveness she played with on the defensive end carried over to the offensive end, so that was fun to watch today,” Sumski said. Both Pearson and center Dorie Harrison ended the third quarter with four fouls, but neither one lost their composure and fouled out for Lipscomb. “We always have to plan ahead of time; we don’t know how the refs are going to call anything,” Pearson said. “We have to control the controlables.” What the Bisons did control was a high-octane offensive display, highlighted by a 25-point 3rd quarter. On a night in which Life outscored Lipscomb in the paint and the two teams finished with equal rebounds, it took effective possessions and capitalizing on turnovers for the Bisons to pull ahead. Lipscomb held a 15-point advantage in points off turnovers, creating a significant advantage that they would go on to need. After a...
