The Bisons top tier offense continued to prevail as they landed their sixth straight win against Stetson on Saturday afternoon in Florida.
Coming off of a win over No. 1 ranked FGCU, the new No. 1 seed Lipscomb (17-11, 9-2 ASUN) kept the momentum rolling as the team put together an offensive game to defeat the Hatters (10-18, 2-9 ASUN) 97-85 on their senior day celebration.
“This was a great trip for us,” head coach Casey Alexander said. “We had to work really hard, especially in the second half when we settled down defensively.
“I thought offensively we put maybe our best 40 minutes together. We really shared the ball well and shot the ball better than we’ve been shooting.”
Stetson standout Luke Doyle stepped up for the Hatters nailing two pressured threes to put Stetson ahead early in the game.
Alexander’s frustration was evident as he quickly pulled the starting five and replaced them with the remaining bench players.
The substitution proved as an effective wake-up call for the starters as they went 7-for-8 from behind the three point line after subbing back into the game.
Derick Newton added to the Hatters score with a few quick buckets for Stetson. Doyle continued to dominate for Stetson, notching in 11 points with 6:30 still remaining in the first half.
The Bisons strong free-throw shooting came into play as Rob Marberry found his way to the line.
The Hatters breached the gap in the score to tie the game and continued to hurt Lipscomb on the drive.
After sinking ten 3-point shots, Lipscomb hit a drought and struggled to find the basket. The Bisons couldn’t find a way to score as the first half ended in a tie.
Michael Buckland took control of the second half, advancing Lipscomb’s score 85-70.
The Bisons shot 19-of-28 in the second half and relied heavily on seven key players with multiple assists.
“This is the second game in a row where we’ve come out and established ourselves to start the second half,” Alexander said. “There was no spectacular halftime talk or anything like that. Our guys just executed and the ball fell for us and gave us a big lift and some separation that we maintained pretty much for the rest of the second half.”
Lipscomb will return home this Thursday to face conference foe North Florida at 6:30 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics