by Spencer Boehme | Jan 22, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s basketball team continued to steamroll through the ASUN as the Bisons grabbed an 86-57 win over the Kennesaw State Owls in Allen Arena Monday night. The Owls (3-17, 0-5 ASUN) kept things a bit too close for comfort for Lipscomb at first, but the Bisons (14-4, 5-0 ASUN) broke away in the second half to stay perfect in conference play. “[You’ve] gotta be prepared for everything,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “And I felt like our guys handled the game where we never really played with great rhythm but still [won] by 29.” The Bisons were led by senior guard Garrison Mathews, who posted 25 points and tied for a team-leading four assists. Senior guard Nathan Moran led the Bisons in three-pointers, shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. “It’s just a start, and we have a lot of work to do,” Moran said. “If we can finish and do another 5-0, and another 5-0 [and] another 5-0, who knows where we’ll be?” Redshirt junior guard Tyler Hooker scored 18 for the Owls and led his team with five rebounds. Junior forward Isaac Mbuyamba finished with three blocks. The Bisons went 20-of-27 on free throws compared to the Owls’ 15-of-22. They also out-rebounded Kennesaw State 42-31, with 11 of those coming from senior forward Eli Pepper. Lipscomb won the steal battle, 8-5. “[Kennesaw State’s] pace is tough for us,” Alexander said. “Their tempo is slow and [they have] a lot of long possessions defensively.” The Owls played competitively for the first six minutes of the game, as they cut Lipscomb’s 7-2 lead to 11-7 with 14:36 to...
by Martin Baker | Jan 20, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
With the first game of the season only three weeks away, the Lipscomb softball team is preparing for what has all the looks of a promising season. The team only lost two seniors from last year and retained most of its strengths at the plate and on the mound. “Our speed game is good, as well as having heavy hitters with the likes of Jenna Pealor and Jordan Fortel,” Lipscomb assistant Megan Rhodes-Smith said. “And our defense is strong with players like Peyton Ward at shortstop and Hannah DeVault at second base.” Devault was just voted the ASUN’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. She made only three errors in 2018 and finished the season with an ASUN-leading .983 fielding percentage. Another advantage the team has is the depth of their bench, including of six pitchers. Coach Rhodes-Smith said it’s not typical to have that many on a roster, but that it’s a “good problem to have.” One of those pitchers is a familiar face to Lipscomb Athletics. Chloe Rogers, a former Lipscomb volleyball player, decided to join the softball team for her fifth year playing four seasons for coach Brandon Rosenthal. In their preseason games during this fall, the team went 8-0 against the competition, which included some fellow NCAA Division I schools. Coach Rhodes-Smith said that “the hardest competition is ourselves” and that the toughest offense and defense the team has faced has been their own in practice. However, she did mention that Liberty is new to the conference and will be a somewhat unknown factor and that Florida Gulf Coast has been a tough opponent in the...
by Carly Reams | Jan 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Expect a tough schedule ahead for the Lipscomb baseball team — but with a much healthier roster to start the season. The 2019 season is just around the corner for the Bisons as they prepare for their first matchup against Valparaiso University on Feb. 15 in an opening home weekend series at Dugan Field. Head coach Jeff Forehand’s unit is coming off of a losing season but brings back a roster full of experienced players. Unfortunately, the Bisons dealt with a plague of injuries last year. “For last year’s season, it started on the mound,” pitching coach James Ogden said. “And then guys like Lee Solomon and even Jeffrey Crisan had to miss a significant amount of time; and then, those were staples of our team that had been around a long time.” This problem has been mostly corrected for the 2019 season, as Ogden says the team realizes getting everyone healthy is something they definitely need to correct. They have done so in some of their training and in therapy and rehabilitation. Almost everyone is ready to play minus a few sprains and tendonitis. And they need to be healthy. This season will be one of the highest RPI schedules when ranked against those prior, with more Power 5 opponents and teams that ranked in the RPI’s top 100. Lipscomb has a much tougher schedule, but Forehand explains that this is all by design. “The ASUN league is a very good league coming off of last year’s season, the seventh-best league in the country,” Forehand said. “So, every team in the league is playing those RPI games. That’s...
by Adrienne Luu | Jan 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Lipscomb men’s tennis team took a road trip to Louisville on Friday and opened up their spring season with a 5-1 loss against the Cardinals. The Bisons (0-1) started off the match by winning the doubles point with a great battle from one of the three pairs. Francesco Tacconi and David Skrabut, on the third line, lost 6-2, but Victor Chaw and Pablo Caffarena pulled out a 6-4 victory in the No. 1 spot. Both teams then stayed on the sidelines to watch the last-standing doubles teams battle for the doubles point. Lipscomb’s Jorge Ortegon and Pedro Uribe started the match falling behind the Cardinals’ lead, but they kept calm and continued to fight. The Bisons duo squeaked out a 7-6 win against the Cardinals to clinch the doubles point. “The doubles, we really just kind of taken charge of that area of the game,” Bisons head coach Geoff Hernandez said. “We really believed in ourselves and our confidence was high.” After taking the doubles point, the Bisons brought their confidence into singles play hoping to win at least three of the singles matches to take home the overall victory. But Louisville had other plans and dispatched the Bisons with five singles wins to take the match, 5-1. Victor Chaw, playing in the No. 1 spot, was aggressive and drew out his match against Louisville’s Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff, which resulted in an unfinished play due to the losses of his teammates. Francesco Tacconi brought the Bisons and the Cardinals to an overall tie of 1-1 when he lost both sets. Pablo Caffarena was the first to start his...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 19, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
When Trent Dilfer toured Lipscomb’s campus, he knew he had found a special place. What the former NFL quarterback didn’t realize was that Lipscomb University had an affiliated high school on its campus that just happened to have a need for a new head football coach. It turned out to be the perfect marriage. “I didn’t even know much about the Academy,” Trent Dilfer said. “But to be here for the last few days and really dive deep and see what’s going on has been an amazing journey for me.” The official announcement of Dilfer’s hiring came during a jam-packed press conference at the McCadams Athletic Center Friday afternoon. But the news was leaked earlier in the day and caused the school to buzz with excitement, according to the players. “Rumors started going around [Friday] at school,” rising senior tight end Houston High said. “When we were walking through the hallways, that’s all everyone was talking about.” Lipscomb finished the 2018 season with a dismal 2-9 record. Coach Scott Tillman resigned in November, and the administration began a nationwide search for his replacement. The opening generated interest from more than 80 candidates, according to Lipscomb Academy headmaster Greg Glenn. “The resources here are great,” Dilfer said of Lipscomb. “There’s no reason we can’t be really, really, really good. I know the competition around here is insane. But I’m more concerned about what we’re going to do.” Following a 14-season NFL career that included a Super Bowl victory with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001, Dilfer spent a decade in the broadcast booth with the NFL Network and ESPN. However, he...
by Mckenzi Harris | Jan 19, 2019 | Galleries, Sports
Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer will soon be on Lipscomb Academy’s payroll. Dilfer was named the Mustangs’ next head football coach at a press conference Friday afternoon. 104.5 The Zone afternoon host Brent Dougherty originally reported the news on Twitter earlier in the day. “This is a calling,” Dilfer said. “When God does something this weird in your life, you never doubt it. This isn’t a career move.” Read Russell Vannozzi’s full story here. Photos by Mckenzi Harris « ‹ of 2 ›...
