by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 30, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Lipscomb and Liberty entered Tuesday’s contest with unblemished 7-0 ASUN records. But the final score provided some clear separation between the league’s two best teams. The Bisons dominated from start to finish, handing Liberty a 79-59 defeat at the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. Lipscomb improved to 8-0 in conference play and took sole possession of first place in the ASUN. “A 40-minute basketball game is going to have a lot of turns in it, but I felt like our players had the right mentality, Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “It was great to get off to a good start and really never let up.” Senior guard Garrison Mathews went for 22 points and knocked down five shots from long range, including two that came from well beyond the NBA three-point line. “Garrison’s in another world right now,” Alexander said. “But we’ve seen him do it a lot. What’s most impressive is he’s just doing it within the framework of the offense and he’s playing well every time he goes out there.” Rob Marberry, the second half of Lipscomb’s two-headed monster, turned in a 14-point, five-assist performance, while senior Eli Pepper added 11 points and eight rebounds. The Bisons (17-4) spread the ball around in the early going and jumped out to a 42-24 halftime advantage. Lipscomb shot 62 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, while Liberty, the nation’s 22nd-best three-point shooting team, went 0-for-9 from long range. The Flames rebounded with four three-point makes in the second half. Marberry and guard Kenny Cooper did not play in Lipscomb’s 88-65 victory at Stetson...
by Spencer Boehme | Jan 27, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb University hosted former Atlanta Braves superstar Fred McGriff during its annual First Pitch Dinner on Saturday. Jonathan Seamon, the ESPN+ play-by-play man for the Bisons, emceed the event. He also interviewed Lipscomb baseball coach Jeff Forehand, alongside the team’s senior players, as they anticipated the upcoming 2019 season. Bisons’ head coach Jeff Forehand said that the dinner, which featured a live auction and encouraged fan donations, “was definitely a good night for us as far as raising a few dollars to help” the team and its facilities. The event began with a time of socialization, light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, and then everyone sat down and ate a complimentary dinner with current players. The baseball season starts Feb. 15 at home against Valparaiso. You can read our season preview here. McGriff injects humor, wisdom and reflection during his interview McGriff started off with an anecdote about how his 10th grade high school baseball team released him. “When [people] see my baseball coach around town, they’re like, ‘Dude, you cut Fred McGriff!'” he said. McGriff played 19 years in the MLB, including five with Atlanta. He was with the Braves during their 1995 World Series victory. “[The] Braves had always made the playoffs and were trying to get over the hump and win a World Series,” McGriff said. “So it was always the pressure on the guys to finally come through and win a World Series.” He finished his career with a .284 batting average, 1,550 RBIs and 493 home runs, per Baseball Reference. At one point, he talked about media coverage of golf rounds between a team’s pitchers....
by Adrienne Luu | Jan 27, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb men’s tennis hosted its first home match of the season at Richland Country Club against the University of Alabama at Birmingham and ended Saturday night with a 4-3 loss. Unlike the previous matches, the Bisons (1-2) lost the doubles point and started off the night behind, 1-0. Lipscomb’s Francesco Tacconi and David Skrabut, playing in line three, finished first and lost 6-0 against UAB’s Jasper Van Kleef and Giovani Pasini. In line one, Victor Chaw and Pablo Caffarena lost their set 6-2, which secured the doubles point for the Blazers. The Bisons’ duo of Jorge Ortegon and Pedro Uribe were left with an unfinished match in line two. “Honestly, our doubles performance was probably one of the worst ones we’ve had in the last two years,” Bisons head coach Geoff Hernandez said. “We’ve really made [doubles] a strength. “I know that the guys will really put the effort to bounce back and take ownership over their strengths. We made a slip-up there, and it might’ve cost us the match. We can’t accept that, but we can make it better.” Despite losing the doubles point, the Bisons were still found a way to defeat the Blazers in singles play. In the No. 2 spot, Pablo Caffarena won both of his sets of 6-3 and 6-2 against Daniel Janko. With the win, Caffarena gave the Bisons their first point and knotted the score at one. Shortly after, Jorge Ortegon won his sets 6-2 and 6-4 against Nikolai Manchev, giving Lipscomb a 2-1 lead. However, Pedro Uribe lost both of his sets to Michal Lusovsky, which brought the Blazers up one point...
by Adrienne Luu | Jan 26, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
After losing its opener last week, the Lipscomb men’s tennis team practiced hard in preparation for the second match of the season. The Bisons’ efforts pulled through today and gave them a 7-0 win over Austin Peay University. The Bisons (1-1) took charge of the doubles play and won the doubles point, which started Lipscomb off with a lead against Austin Peay. Playing on the first line, Victor Chaw and Pablo Caffarena began their match with a lead against Austin Peay’s Almantas Ozelis and Anton Damberg. They refused to let the Governors duo catch up to them and kept scoring point after point until they pulled out the Bisons’ first win of 6-2 in doubles. “Me and Pablo are playing fantastic doubles,” Chaw said. “We have an amazing energy every point. I don’t think there’s any pair in the nation that plays with more intensity than us, and that’s why we dominate so much in doubles.” Francesco Tacconi and David Skrabut, playing on third, were leading but were unable to finish their match when Jorge Ortegon and Pedro Uribe, on second, won their 6-2 set against Timo Kiesslich and Jacob Lorino, clinching the doubles point for Lipscomb. Chaw also said that he thinks the Bisons have to improve matches week-by-week. “[The Bisons] aren’t really where [we] want to be…yet,” Chaw said. “If [we] keep improving the little stuff, by conference time [we] will be a very solid team but have to put in the work week-by-week.” With the aggressiveness and competitiveness that played out in doubles, the Lipscomb Bisons carried those emotions over to singles play. On the fourth...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 25, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball team has undergone significant personnel changes since dropping a 108-96 contest to Lipscomb in the ASUN title game last March. But the result was the same Thursday night. Lipscomb (15-4, 6-0 ASUN) used 13 three-pointers to pull away from the Eagles for an 89-81 victory at Allen Arena. “It was nice to find a way [to win],” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “I give FGCU a lot of credit – they played tough. But we had some experienced guys make some experienced plays, and that turned out to be the difference.” Senior guard Garrison Mathews went for 31 points, and he hit six of Lipscomb’s 13 threes. Matt Rose added a trio of three-pointers, while Nathan Moran and Michael Buckland each had two apiece. Mathews’ outing was his best since scoring 29 points at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 1. “[Garrison] wanted the ball and he delivered,” Alexander said. “He got to the line, he made tough twos, he made big threes. It was a complete game for him.” Mathews and Moran hit back-to-back threes with just 1:23 remaining to take an 81-73 lead and prevent any hope of an FGCU comeback. “All of us were knocking down shots tonight,” Mathews said. “Nate hit that big-time three at the end that really kind of sealed the deal. I was just fortunate to knock some down.” The offseason was not kind to the Eagles (7-14, 2-4 ASUN). Coach Joe Dooley left for East Carolina, reigning ASUN Player of the Year Brandon Goodwin graduated and went to the NBA and Zach Johnson transferred to Miami, leaving...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 22, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
March is still a long ways off, but the Lipscomb men’s basketball team has consistently appeared in various predictions for the Big Dance. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed the Bisons as a No. 12 seed playing Villanova in Salt Lake City. CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm also tabbed Lipscomb as a No. 12 seed, but he had the Bisons playing North Carolina in San Jose. SB Nation will release its new projections on Tuesday, but the Bisons were listed as a No. 2 seed in the NIT in last week’s edition. Bisons land at No. 46 in NET rankings; still rank high in mid-major polls The latest NET rankings have Lipscomb at No. 46 in the country – slightly down from its previous ranking of No. 39 on Jan. 17. But that is still good for second-best in the state behind No. 4 Tennessee. The Bisons are also No. 10 in SB Nation’s Mid-Major Madness poll and No. 8 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Greg Jones likely to miss rest of season Coach Casey Alexander confirmed that guard Greg Jones is expected to miss the remainder of the year with a knee injury that will require surgery. The sophomore last played on Dec. 12 at Louisville and only appeared in nine games this season. The news is especially crushing because Alexander believed Jones was heading for a “breakout” campaign. “He had a great preseason in the summer and fall, and he played with great confidence,” Alexander said. “He made great contributions as a sub off the bench early in the year. But he’s got some great days ahead.” Alexander...
