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 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 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 Russell Vannozzi | Jan 13, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Senior guard Garrison Mathews is rewriting the Lipscomb basketball record books. Thanks to a 20-point performance against Stetson on Saturday, Mathews eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for his career and passed Adnan Hodzic (2,002) as the school’s leading scorer in the NCAA Division I era, which began with the 2001-02 season. “I struggled my freshman year, and I didn’t think I’d be at this point when I got here,” Mathews said. “I knew I had to work hard, and I did. I’ve got great coaches and teammates that have helped me along the way.” Senior forward Rob Marberry led all scorers with 23 points, and freshman Jake Wolfe emerged as an offensive threat with 16 points in Lipscomb’s 95-71 thrashing of the Hatters in front of 1,388 Allen Arena fans. “The scoring was really spread out, which was awesome to see,” Marberry said. “Teams don’t really know how to guard us. They can’t tell if it’s going to be one guy’s night or another player’s [night].” Lipscomb (12-4, 3-0 ASUN) started slow, and Stetson held a 19-18 lead after nine minutes of play. But the Bisons finished the final 10 minutes of the first half on a 38-11 run to take a 56-30 halftime lead and quell any concerns of a Stetson upset. “When you create a margin like that at halftime, you’ve obviously played well,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “I was not pleased with the consistency of play. I felt like we had a lot of breakdowns and it wasn’t really clean, but I’ll take it overall.” Mathews also set Lipscomb’s record for three-pointers in the NCAA era....
by Erika Plunkett | Jan 12, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
For the first time this season, Lipscomb’s women’s basketball team was able to dress its entire team. But the return of redshirt sophomore forward Emily Kmec and freshman guard/forward Taylor Hammack did not prove to be enough to defeat the Stetson Hatters. Saturday’s 65-80 loss moved the Lady Bisons to a 2-14 record, while Stetson improved to 7-9. Lipscomb has now lost 13 straight games. Leading Stetson to the win was junior guard Addi Walters, who shot 7-of-12 from behind the arc and totaled a season-high 25 points. When asked how he was going to address this defensive lapse moving forward, Lipscomb coach Coach Greg Brown said that his focus is on “awareness and communication.” “We just didn’t communicate very well. There was nothing [offensively] where they would get us in a bind. We just weren’t aware out there to take care of those things.” Offensively, the Lady Bisons’ leading scorer, sophomore guard Taylor Clark, was able to contribute only six points. She got into foul trouble early, which limited her playing time. Despite these mistakes, there were a number of bright spots for Lipscomb, including freshman guard Jane Deason, who led the Lady Bisons with twenty points. Although this was a career high, her performance was no surprise to her coaches who have time and time again observed her work ethic. “Jane just continues to play hard,” Brown said. “Like all freshmen there is a learning curve, but she listens. She was one of the last ones to leave here last night. After practice she was playing some pickup, and then she turned around and was on the...
