The Lipscomb men’s basketball team defeated Oakland City with a 96-69 win Tuesday night during their home opener in Allen Arena.
In the first half, the Bisons scored 51 points against Oakland City. The men shot 54.1 percent from the floor overall and 50 percent from beyond the arch.
Junior J.C. Hampton led the Bisons for the second straight game with 21 points.
“He is playing with a lot of confidence,” head basketball coach Casey Alexander said. “He had a great trip on the west coast and he just carried it out today and really led us as a team against Oakland City.”
Freshman Eli Pepper, the reigning A-Sun Newcomer of the Week, scored 12 points and was the second leading scorer for the Bisons.
“He has been a significant contributor in all four games we have played,” Alexander said. “It is great to see out of the freshman. Sometimes it does not come that easily, but he has been really solid for us so far.”
Oakland City was led by Jonathan Sulak who had 27 points.
“He was the best player on the floor,” Alexander said. “We had a hard time guarding him.”
Lipscomb is in a stretch that includes seven games in 10 days. This weekend the Bisons will take on three teams in the Men against Breast Cancer Classic in Oxford, Ohio.
The other teams playing in the Classic besides Lipscomb are Miami (Ohio), Florida Atlantic and Northeastern.
“This tournament is going to be a tough challenge and is very similar to what we played at Santa Clara,” Alexander said. “Three mid-major teams that are going to show their best against us. I just want us to compete and keep getting better and see where that gets us going forward.”
Lipscomb will play Friday night against Miami (Ohio) at 6 p.m. before playing Northeastern on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The event will end on Sunday with a game against Florida Atlantic on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics