by Grant Ledgister | Jan 12, 2020 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Lady Bisons (4-12, 1-2 ASUN) struggled to stick with the faster, more pressuring style of defense of the UNA Lions (12-3, 3-0 ASUN), falling 84-72. Lipscomb was also extremely limited from the free-point line, a spot where it has been dominant from (.799 percentage from the line entering the game). Though they only led for a total of 1:53, the Lady Bisons kept it close for much of the first half. Turnovers plagued both teams early, as both teams gave up possessions leading to easy fast breaks and scores for the other side. Both teams settled in after the early run by UNA, making it a much closer affair, with the Lady Bisons taking their first lead on a 3-point shot from freshman guard Blythe Pearson late in the first quarter. Much of the second quarter was similar to the first, with the Lions staying in front but Lipscomb doing enough to keep it close. That all changed when a combination of poor ball handling and passes leading to turnovers (Lipscomb ended the half with 10 total compared to UNA’s four), only shooting 16.7% from the field in the quarter, and an inability to get to the free-throw line (going 0-2 in the half) where the team has been so dominant saw UNA going on a 17-0 run to end the half ahead 38-22. Although for much of the third quarter the damage caused by the end of the first half did not get worse, a three and a layup from UNA’s senior guard Ivy Wallen had Lipscomb fall behind by 20 points. However, Lipscomb didn’t stop...
by Grant Bricker | Jan 12, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons played conference rival North Alabama at Allen Arena on Saturday, looking to continue their win streak after last week’s breakout performance against Kennesaw State. However, things didn’t turn out the way Lipscomb had hoped. The Bisons fell to the Lions 82-69 despite Lipscomb leading by nine in the second half. This gave North Alabama its first road win of the year as they were 0-9 previously before coming into the game. The first half was very competitive as both teams went blow for blow. North Alabama was down 27-34 with two minutes left in the half but would go on a 5-0 run capped off by a dunk to end the first half down only two points. Both teams were anxious to get any sort of momentum going in the second half. However, neither team would budge. After a back and forth start to the second half, Lipscomb started to gain a little momentum as they started make some free throws to jump out to a nine-point lead making it 55-46 midway through the second half. Then it was North Alabama’s turn to gain ground, after hitting a three just as the shot clock expired with a little over 10 minutes to go in the game. Lipscomb Coach Lennie Acuff saw this as a key turning point for North Alabama. “We’re up nine with ten minutes, it looked there was gonna [sic] be a shot clock violation, and they make a three as the shot clock goes off, it just opened up the flood gates.” Acuff said. North Alabama would then go on a 33-11 run...
by Tyler Harvey | Jan 11, 2020 | News Slider, Sports
The Titans 2019-2020 campaign has been a successful one up to this point, but this has not been without unexpected changes with its starters on the field. Lipscomb Students and Titans fans Juan Oliva and Caleb Williams gave their opinion on the team’s performance thus far, the changes made by the team and the Titans chances of winning. The biggest change the Titans made happened in week six of the season when the Titans went on the road to play the Denver Broncos. Titans coach Mike Vrabel decided to pull starting quarterback Marcus Mariota from the game to start the second half after losing 6-0 up to that point. QB Ryan Tannehill replaced Mariota, and while he didn’t lead the Titans to a come from behind win against the Broncos; Tannehill played well enough that the Titans coaches decided to name him the new starting quarterback for the next game. “I really did think they would play Mariota the whole season because the organization had banked on him so much. Up to that point the organization had seen him as their franchise quarterback,” Oliva said. “While I did think benching him (Mariota) and mixing things up was a good idea, I did think it kind of blew our chance at a postseason,” Williams said. The Titans had 2-4 record at the time of the switch and had lost their last two games. However, the Titans quarterback change sparked a turning point in the season, the team went on to win a wildcard spot for the NFL playoffs this year. Since naming Tannehill, the starter, the Titans have won eight of...
by Erika Plunkett | Jan 10, 2020 | Galleries, News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons opened there 2020 home slate on Thursday night hosting ASUN opponent, Kennesaw State in their third conference game of the year. Despite a late comeback attempt by the Owls, the Bisons were able to pull away with a 73-85 victory behind senior guard Michael Buckland’s career-high 25 points and redshirt sophomore center Ahsan Asadullah’s career-high 28 points. “For about 34 minutes, I thought we played really, really well – some of our best play offensively. We went 13-26 from the 3-point line; the reason we did that is that we moved the ball,” said Lipscomb head coach Lennie Acuff. The two teams played competitively for much of the first half with both sides going on scoring runs, however, it was the Bisons who went into halftime with the lead 31-39, due to several key defensive stops. “I can come in as a senior and demand that defensive mentality from the younger guys. Because that’s where we are going to get conference wins,” Buckland said. “We are going to get scouted, offense is going to be stagnant at times, and so when it does get stagnant you have to be able to make stops on the defensive end.” Coming out of the half, Lipscomb got off to a hot start and began to take control of the game, leading by 20 points with 10 minutes remaining in the game. But, Kennesaw State refused to go home quietly. “Our problem this year has been that we will have little lulls, and we have to learn to eliminate those lulls,” Buckland said. This lull cost the Bisons’ their large...
by Erika Plunkett | Dec 31, 2019 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Down seven players, including leading scorer Bradley Beal, the Washington Wizards pulled off an upset win Tuesday night against the second-best team in the NBA, the Miami Heat. The Wizards’ success is due to their bench production, where they outscored Miami 80-27, including a career-high 28 points from former Lipscomb Bison Garrison Mathews. Mathews, a two-way player with the Capital City Go-Gos, was recently recalled to join the injury-ridden Wizards. Entering the game in the first quarter, Mathews quickly scored on a jumper, but it was not until the second quarter when Mathews got into a scoring rhythm. In that second period, he scored 20 points, while the Heat was only able to score 24 points. It's quick! ?#WizHeat | @gmathews_24 pic.twitter.com/oUMNsIuWZ5 — Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 31, 2019 Joining Mathews with a career high was Ian Mahinmi, who contributed 25 points; Jordan McRae led the team with 29 points. At the half, Wizards assistant coach David Adkins was asked about the strong performances from Mahinmi, McRae and Mathews; his response: “That’s 61 first-half points!” Speaking of Mathews, Adkins said, “Well, you know his nickname is ‘Wild Thing.’” And Mathews lived up to the name. While his offensive performance was not as strong in the second half, finishing with just 6 points after the break, he continued to draw attention, defenders and fouls, which opened up his teammates for shots. Mathews finished the night with 28 points, including four three-pointers and four assists. Mathews earned a standing ovation when he entered the game in the third quarter, accompanied by “M-V-P” chants, and the fan support continued when two questionable...
by Mckenzi Harris | Dec 18, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Bisons played their final home game of the year Tuesday night and pulled out a 78-60 win over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. The Bisons were down by 14 points midway through the first quarter, but began to cut into the Golden Eagles lead and entered the second half down by only four. “They came out and got off to a good start, but we held our composure,” said Head Coach Lennie Acuff. Tech really had the Bisons on the edge of their seats in the first half. “I thought we were a little rusty, we’ve only played one game in two weeks,” said Coach Acuff. The second half was a completely different story. After gaining that rhythm, there was no stopping the Bisons. “I thought we got a good lift off the bench from several guys and played really well in the second half,” said Coach Acuff. Asadullah hit seven points in a 14-0 run for the Bisons early in the second half putting the Bisons ahead with a 53-46 lead. The Bisons shot 51% from the field and scored 30 points from the paint. Coach Acuff’s hopes for the rest of the season remain high for the Bisons. “I think we’re getting better, I think when we play smart, play through Ahsan, good things happen. It’s good to have Buck back and get him in rhythm,” said Coach Acuff. “We’ve just gotta keep moving the needle everyday and keep getting better.” “We’ve gotta get to where we don’t lose at home, we’ve just gotta keep getting better, home games have gotta be wins.” The Bisons play...
