by Grant Ledgister | Nov 10, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
It all came down to who missed first during penalty kicks, and Lipscomb had just enough to pull off a 4-3 thriller over the Kennessaw State Owls to win to win the 2019 ASUN soccer championship. It is the second consecutive title and seventh consecutive win this year. The Owls took control early, dominating the time of possession and creating several chances to score. However, Lipscomb’s “bend but don’t break” style of defense allowed them to escape the first ten minutes without conceding a goal. In the next several minutes, the Lady Bisons created enough space to find several of their own chances at the goal. Olivia Doak had several chances to score in the first half. Two of them were being near empty boxes and one on a corner kick, but good defense, an errant pass and an offside call ended those efforts. Lipscomb and Doak’s offensive advances paid off in the 15th minute, when Doak received a pass from Molly Grant, and put the shot into the upper corner of the net. “[The goal] gave us confidence,” Lipscomb coach Kevin O’Brien said. “We started playing better after that.” Lipscomb had control of the time of possession in the latter stages of the half, but the Owls still came close to equalizing. Goalkeeper Melissa Gray kept the ball out of the goal with several key saves and other defensive efforts. Lipscomb had eight offside penalties in the first half and added one more on its first possession of the second half, which would end up setting the tone for the half. The Lady Bisons never seemed to be able...
by Kathryn Farris | Nov 10, 2019 | Galleries, News Slider, Sports
MTSU survived a nail-biter to spoil Lipscomb’s homecoming 73-70 Saturday in Allen Arena. With less than two minutes remaining in the game, the score was 66-66. However, sparked by C.J. Jones’ hit from downtown, and the Blue Raiders eked out the victory. Throughout the game, Lipscomb and MTSU went toe-to-toe, keeping the crowd of students, alums and family members on the edges of their seats. Lipscomb’s Ahsan Asadullah had a big night, scoring 18 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds for his second straight double-double. He added three blocks and two steals. Another standout was senior guard Andrew Fleming, who added seven rebounds and four assists for the second straight game. Asadullah and Fleming were joined in double-figure scoring by senior guard Michael Buckland and sophomore guard Jake Wolfe. Although the Bisons had four players in double-digit scoring, offense was a major problem for both teams throughout the game. Scoring runs were short lived, and droughts were the storyline for much of the game. On one such run, after Lipscomb took a 7-2 lead, the Bisons ended up missing their next nine shots. MTSU experienced similar difficulty, only making three of their first 14 attempts. While both teams started slowly, it was the Blue Raiders who put together a stronger performance in the first half and led 37-31 going into the break. After halftime, Asadullah pulled Lipscomb to 49-49 game by scoring six of his eight second-half points all within the first five minutes. But Lipscomb fell behind once again, and just a few minutes later, Middle Tennessee had its second largest lead of the game 60-51. Yet, as...
by Bailey Burnett | Nov 8, 2019 | Galleries, News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Mustangs will head into their first playoff game of the 2019 season playing Boyd-Buchanan this weekend after a tough and enthusiastic year. “I’m excited for the playoffs,” coach Trent Dilfer said. “I think the regular season has hardened us in a good way.” Before the season opener, there were a lot of changes to the program. Dilfer, a former Super Bowl winning NFL quarterback, was named head coach and over 30 coaches were added to the program. Not only were there many coaching changes, but there were also over 20 transfers suiting up in purple and gold for the start of the 2019 season. The Mustangs finished with a 5-5 overall record as they prepare to face Boyd-Buchanan in round one. Dilfer says: “I think you have to judge the season somewhat contextually. A program that had won three games in two years — and we added 20-something new players to the program — and I think for all those reasons to be .500 is a big deal. I think, more importantly, I judge the season on the mentality, culture, and mindset and I think we made some radical changes.” Dilfer also shared his thoughts on how this season has shaped these young athletes into young men. The Mustang motto, “Be Set Apart” became a cruical part of the teams culture this year. “I think the boys have learned to invest a ton into something they are passionate about. They have learned a lot about becoming young men, how to overcome adversity, how to handle success, and how to sacrifice for one another, and so, for all...
by Mckenzi Harris | Nov 6, 2019 | Galleries, News Slider, Sports
The 2019-2020 season is off to a hot start for the men’s basketball team, which defeated Rhodes College 104-55 Tuesday night. It is a new era for this team, now being led by Lennie Acuff, the 19th coach in program history. “I told the guys after the game that this is my 30th season as a head coach, but tonight was as nervous as I have ever been for an opening game,” Acuff said. “It’s a new place, and I wanted the team to play well.” “I thought we played really hard in the first half, we just didn’t play very well. But in the second half, I felt we slowed the game down a little bit and got in our lane. I am proud of the way the guys played.” Click to read the full story from Kailey Schyler....
by Kailey Schuyler | Nov 6, 2019 | Galleries, News Slider, Sports
The 2019-2020 season is off to a hot start for the men’s basketball team, which defeated Rhodes College 104-55 Tuesday night. It is a new era for this team, now being led by Lennie Acuff, the 19th coach in program history. “I told the guys after the game that this is my 30th season as a head coach, but tonight was as nervous as I have ever been for an opening game,” Acuff said. “It’s a new place, and I wanted the team to play well.” “I thought we played really hard in the first half, we just didn’t play very well. But in the second half, I felt we slowed the game down a little bit and got in our lane. I am proud of the way the guys played.” Making his first career start, Andrew Fleming joined center Ahsan Asadullah in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. The guard — one of only two seniors on the squad — also reeled in seven boards and matched a team high with four assists. “We put in a lot of work over the summer working every day,” Fleming said. “I love these teammates and am excited to play with them. They are all great guys, and you can see on the floor we have fun. I think our camaraderie translates to us playing well on the court together.” Asadullah had the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Bisons. All 13 players who saw playing time scored against the Lynx. Freshman K. J. Johnson led the team with 14 points. Three of...
by Erika Plunkett | Nov 3, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Arriving on the heels of one of the worst seasons in program history, new women’s basketball head coach Lauren Sumski is embracing the doubters as the motivation for her team. “We were excited,” Sumski said.“I was fired up when they [the ASUN preseason poll] picked us ninth.” This is just the response you would expect if you have spent any time with the young head coach. Her excitement, enthusiasm and can-do attitude are a breath of fresh air for a team that many times last season seemed defeated before they even took the court. “Usually, all of those preseason rankings are just based off of the former season, and that’s exactly where we finished,” Sumski said. “We don’t make any qualms about it; we never have.” But Sumski knows something that the poll voters do not: this is an entirely new team. “We have a lot of returners who I think have stepped up and improved in different ways,” she said. “We have some transfers that I think are going to add to us tremendously. And I think we have some young kids who are really going to be able to step up and help us really early as well.” One of those returners is junior guard Taylor Clark, who was voted as ASUN preseason player of the year. Clark, who missed parts of last season with injuries, was Lipscomb’s leading scorer last season and the only player who averaged double-digit points. Adding to the Lady Bisons’ roster is former Kentucky guard and redshirt sophomore transfer Dorie Harrison, who played all 32 games for the Wildcats and averaged 6.7...
