by Russell Vannozzi | Dec 22, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb and Vermont both entered Friday’s contest at Allen Arena ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The No. 23 Catamounts (9-4) were riding a six-game winning streak that included victories over George Mason, Harvard and St. Bonaventure. No. 11 Lipscomb clearly didn’t want to join that list. The Bisons (9-3) delivered perhaps their most complete performance of the season to down Vermont, 91-66. “That was as good as we’ve played against a good team since I’ve been here,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “I’m really proud of how our team played on both ends of the floor.” Lipscomb shot 58 percent (34-of-59) from the field and only missed six total shots in the first half. The Bisons also limited Vermont to its second-lowest scoring output of the season and held the Catamounts well below their average of 77.2 points per game. “Our huge emphasis this year has been defense,” Lipscomb guard Garrison Mathews said. “If we can hold people down, we can score more than [them].” Mathews led the Bisons with 22 points, while Rob Marberry added 21. It was the 46th time in Mathews’ career that he has scored 20 or more points, the most of any current ASUN player. Six of his seven field goal makes came from beyond the arc. “Rob’s a great player, and I enjoy playing with him so much,” Mathews said. “Everyone has to pay a lot of attention to him. When you have a post like [Marberry], it’s easy to get stuff outside.” Vermont showed signs of fatigue after narrow wins over Northeastern and St. Bonaventure earlier in the week, while...
by Spencer Boehme | Dec 18, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
The bench showed up, and the sophomore walk-ons produced 30 points as Lipscomb’s men’s basketball team blew out the Division III Covenant Scots (5-3) on Monday night. The Bisons (8-3) stormed the court with a 119-48 win at Allen Arena in front of a sparse, 1000-member Christmas-break audience. While Lipscomb improves its record, Covenant’s schedule had Lipscomb as an exhibition opponent. “[A] lot of guys got to play, and guys were ready to play when their number was called,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “That’s all that you can ask for as a coach.” Although senior guard Garrison Mathews tallied a team-leading 22 points, it was sophomore guard John Matt Merritt who stole the stage. The former walk-on posted 21 points off the bench, all of which came in the second half. From the three-point range, Merritt went 3-of-4. Coming into the game, Merritt had managed just five points all year. “I would not hesitate to put him in any game, any time, because I trust him, and he’s worked really hard,” Alexander said. “And…he deserves it. He’s just had other people in front of him.” Lipscomb’s bench ended up with 69 points total. Zach Flener, another walk-on sophomore guard, put up nine points as well after having two all year. Freshman guards Alex Jones and Jake Wolfe scored ten points apiece. “[I’ve] got really good teammates, they’re very unselfish,” Merritt said. “They put the ball in the right place.” It was a great showing from a unit that will have to step up in place of five current solid seniors when the season ends. Meanwhile for the Scots,...
by Spencer Boehme | Dec 13, 2018 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
Let’s all take a moment and acknowledge how much this one hurt to watch. Lipscomb’s men’s basketball team (7-3) took an exciting road trip to face a tough ACC squad in Louisville (7-3) and lost an excruciating nail-biter, 72-68, on Wednesday night. The Bisons proved that they have the talent to compete with the majority of schools in college basketball. They were just too sloppy to get it done. “[Louisville’s] one of the nation’s best,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said following the loss. “[Louisville coach] Chris [Mack] has done an amazing job with them up to this point. I’m glad we came in here and fought.” And it might have played out differently had Bisons junior guard Kenny Cooper collected an open defensive rebound and then avoided a turnover — all within the last 66 seconds. But let’s get justifiably optimistic here. The fact that the Bisons stayed as competitive as they did against an ACC powerhouse just might be the final straw in proving that this year’s team is the most legitimate Lipscomb men’s basketball program since the NAIA days. “We beat a really, really, really good team tonight,” Mack said. “And our team knew that coming in. All you have to do is look at last year with them being in the tournament, playing Carolina tooth-and-nail, bringing back virtually their entire team.” But it was a sloppy, sloppy game for the Bisons. They had so many opportunities to score in the paint, but they couldn’t handle the ball well. The Bisons were also out-rebounded, and they watched some of their tallest players get in foul trouble (senior...
by Russell Vannozzi | Dec 13, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When Jordan Nwora scored Louisville’s first 11 points on Tuesday, it appeared it might be a long night for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team. But after making some defensive adjustments, the Bisons gave the Cardinals all they could handle in what was nearly a massive upset. However, a Kenny Cooper turnover with 1:03 left was followed by a fadeaway jumper from Louisville’s Christen Cunningham, giving the Cardinals a narrow, 72-68 victory at the KFC Yum! Center. Lipscomb guard Garrison Mathews led the Bisons with 20 points after producing a combined 10 in his last two outings against Belmont and Navy. The senior said he hopes the Louisville experience will help prepare the Bisons for March basketball. “I think we can play with anybody,” Mathews said. “I don’t think we can beat everybody, but I think we can play with anybody and give everybody a game. It’s good experience for hopefully when we make the [NCAA] tournament.” Lipscomb (7-3) shot just 35 percent (23-of-65) from the floor – well below its season average of 47 percent. But the Bisons went on an 8-0 run just before the break to cut Louisville’s halftime lead to 34-33. “It wasn’t our best performance by any stretch,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “Louisville had a lot to do with that, obviously. We put ourselves in position where we had a chance late. That shows a lot of grit and fight, so I’m proud of our team for that.” Lipscomb trailed by as many as 12 with 14:35 left to play, but a pair of threes from Mathews and baskets by Cooper...
by Russell Vannozzi | Dec 9, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander was not happy with his team despite leading Navy 52-45 at halftime on Sunday. The Midshipmen offense entered the contest only averaging 62.5 points per game – good for 336th in the nation. “I just didn’t think we were dialed in defensively,” Alexander said. “I didn’t think our energy was very good. [Navy] made all the effort plays in the first half.” The Bisons (7-2) dialed up the defense in the second half and continued an offensive onslaught that resulted in a 107-81 blowout victory over Navy at Allen Arena. It was Lipscomb’s first 100-point performance of the season. Lipscomb made its post presence felt throughout the contest as Rob Marberry and Ahsan Asadullah finished with 26 and 24 points, respectively. The pair combined to shoot 20-of-24 from the field and 10-of-12 from the charity strip. “50 points out of our five spot is pretty good,” Alexander said. “[They] were highly efficient.” The Bisons also shot nearly 47 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc, making for a lethal attack that Navy could not match. “We just need a balanced [offense],” Marberry said. “With any of our five players on the court, we’re going to have a good guard and post presence. We’re excited to have that balance and depth this year.” Navy (3-6) was led by redshirt freshman guard John Carter Jr., who had 17 points in what was a homecoming of sorts for him. Carter is a Spring Hill native that graduated from Summit High School in 2017. George Kiernan (15 points), Cam Davis (13) and Josiah Strong (11) also finished in double figures for...
by Russell Vannozzi | Dec 6, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
This year’s Lipscomb basketball team may be one of the most talented the school has ever assembled. They just won’t be remembered by their Belmont performances. Although senior Nathan Moran had a chance to win it with a fadeaway three as the clock expired, the Bruins played like the better team for most of what became a 76-74 Belmont victory at the Curb Event Center Tuesday night. This one hurts a bit more because it came less than three weeks after an 87-83 home loss to the Bruins on Nov. 15. The Bisons are now 6-2, with both defeats at the hands of their archrival. Lipscomb also missed out on two opportunities for quality wins because Belmont (7-1) appears to be primed for a stellar year and possibly an OVC title. But these losses won’t define Lipscomb’s season. In fact, the very opposite is true. Short of a near-perfect season, the Bisons won’t be in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. They must win the ASUN tournament title or they’ll be heading to the NIT, CIT or watching March basketball from home, regardless of how the rest of the regular season goes. That’s because the ASUN is simply too weak of a conference. Only four of the nine ASUN teams are currently in the top 250 of the NCAA’s new NET ranking system. Lipscomb’s strength of schedule will diminish as it enters ASUN play, and its chances for quality wins will be minimal. But Tuesday’s Battle of the Boulevard wasn’t all bad. Lipscomb didn’t play its best basketball yet still managed to give the Bruins all...
