1972: The year the Rebels’ streak ended

1972: The year the Rebels’ streak ended

In the last installment of the series we discussed Belmont’s winning streak that began in 1967. Today, we dive into the game that ended that streak. It was 1972 and the Rebels had dominated the Bisons for the last four years. Over those eight games the closest that Lipscomb came to beating the team down the road was in 1969 in a 61-59 game. 12/2/1967 at Belmont Belmont 102-86 1/20/1968 at Lipscomb Belmont 54-46 1/18/1969 at Lipscomb Belmont 61-59 2/15/1969 at Belmont Belmont 78-48 1/17/1970 at Belmont Belmont 95-81 1/31/1970 at Lipscomb Belmont 83-70 1/14/1971 at Lipscomb Belmont 96-88 2/11/1971 at Belmont Belmont 87-74 1/13/1972 at Belmont Lipscomb 88-86   Still, in true rivalry fashion, Belmont battled back tying the game with about three minutes to go. Lipscomb then tied the game with a jump shot and played tight defense on the way back down the floor. Lipscomb held on for the win and a streak their own.Lipscomb, then lead by coach Mike Clark, led by as many as 14 points in the game and led by 11 at halftime. The Bisons had the lead for 36 straight minutes after Belmont opened the scoring.But finally, on January 13, 1972, the Bison played a back and forth game versus the Rebels, but came out on top at the end. The streak lasted all of 25 days. Belmont beat Lipscomb in McQuiddy gym in a double overtime game that ended 79-76 in the Rebels favor. The following article was taken from the January edition of the 1972 Babbler. by Danny Dozier The Jan. 13 victory over arch rival Belmont college has...

Bison look to improve A-Sun record with UNF visiting

Lipscomb will go for the season sweep of Jacksonville Monday in Allen Arena at 6:30 p.m.  A win for the Bison gives Lipscomb 100 wins in the 11-year-old Allen Arena. Lipscomb is led by senior sharp shooter Jordan Burgason who leads the nation in 3-point percentage (52.8) and threes per game (3.9).  Burgason is second in the A-Sun in scoring at 16.8 points per game. Freshman Zavion Williams averages 9.4 points and 3.1 assist for Lipscomb.  Center Justin Glenn has blossomed in his senior year to average 8.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. Jacksonville leads the series 11-8 while Lipscomb has won six of nine meetings in Allen Arena.  On Jan. 2 Lipscomb opened the second half on a 15-2 run and held Jacksonville to one field goal over the first nine minutes of the second period en route to a 77-71 victory in Jacksonville. Saturday evening Lipscomb lost 71-59 to North Florida after a strong opening half by the Osprey. North Florida led 45-24 at halftime.  Burgason had a team-high 19 points while Glenn led Lipscomb with nine rebounds.   Quick Hits Lipscomb is 5-4 in Allen Arena while Jacksonville is 2-13 on the road. Jordan Burgason has played 37 or more minutes in last six games Burgason has connected on 46 of his last 79 three-point attempts (58.2 percent) Burgason makes 4.4 threes per game over his last nine games Damarius Smith has missed 15 of his last 22 free throws since 12/21 After averaging 6.0 assists in December, Damarius Smith averages 2.0 assists in January Martin Smith received his second career start Saturday against UNF. He had a...
Fall 1967: That one time the Bisons went into Belmont way too confident

Fall 1967: That one time the Bisons went into Belmont way too confident

The Bisons had gone winless in two tries before playing Belmont in the ’67-’68 season. Still, Lipscomb was averaging over 90 points a game and won the last four times when playing in Belmont’s gym. Moreover, the Rebels of Belmont had already upset a  top-ranked Tennessee Wesleyan just in its first game. However, the Bisons coached by Guy Phillips, would not be able to beat Belmont that time around or the rest of the season for that matter. In the game at Belmont the Bisons lost 102-86 followed up by an uncharacteristically low scoring affair, a 54-46 loss at Lipscomb. There is no word if they were playing a half-court game during that second matchup. The loss at Belmont started the biggest win streak for the Rebels/Bruins during the entire 129 game series. During the first outing, both Coach Phillips and his team were very (overly) optimistic about their chances heading into what was then called a mere “cross-town rivalry” with no boulevard at stake. Take Eddie Montgomery (no, not the taller half of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry) went into the Belmont game thinking they could beat not only the Rebs but also any other team in the country. “We’ve got the offense to blow somebody out of the gym. Our fast-break is working like a charm, and we should be able to run Belmont to death.” The entire article from the December 1967 Babbler can be read below. By Byron Nelson Cross-town rivalry flares up again tomorrow afternoon as the Bisons invade Belmont to take on the Rebels in their Homecoming game at 2 p.m. Traditionally,...

Burgason shines from downtown, Bison ready themselves for USC Upstate

Senior Jordan Burgason drained nine 3-pointers tying his own single-game record and posted a career-high 33 points Saturday afternoon as Lipscomb defeated ETSU 73-65 in Johnson City, Tenn. He also hit nine treys at Iowa State on Dec. 21 setting Lipscomb’s NCAA era record.  The Bison (10-10, 5-3 A-Sun) connected on a season high 15 three-pointers against ETSU (10-8, 5-3 A-Sun). In the last eight games, Burgason has hit an unfathomable 4.8 treys a game and is shooting 59.3 percent from beyond the arc. Lipscomb plays at USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C., Monday at 6 p.m. central.  USC Upstate is coming off a 79-78 win on a last second shot against Belmont Saturday. Monday’s game will be broadcast by the Lipscomb Sports Network presented by Jackson live on 102.1 The Light and LipscombSports.com beginning with the Lyons Chevrolet Buick GMC Countdown to Tipoff show at 5:45. Burgason’s bombs started at the top of the game as he made three treys in Lipscomb’s first five possessions.  Lipscomb led the whole first half and was up 39-30 at half. Lipscomb went cold after a 3-pointer by Burgason less than four minutes into the second half.  The Bison didn’t score in a span of 13 possessions over 7:31 and allowed ETSU to go on a 17-0 run to take a 51-44 lead. Freshman Martin Smith snapped the streak with a traditional three-point play at the 9:09 mark.  Two possessions later Smith nailed a three. Then Burgason took back over hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to give Lipscomb a 59-56 lead with 5:44 left. Martin finished with a career-high 17 points and four 3-pointers including a...

Bison fall to Florida Gulf Coast in overtime, move to 3-3 in Atlantic Sun

One of the primary concerns for the Lipscomb Bison this season has been the ability to rebound. The Bison spent the past week of practice placing an emphasis on board work. But Saturday night at Allen Arena the Bison were outrebounded 53-40 in an 84-80 loss in overtime to Atlantic Sun foe Florida Gulf Coast. The Bison slipped to 8-10 overall, 3-3 in the conference. Florida Gulf Coast is 8-9, 4-3 in the A-Sun. It was only the second win for Florida Gulf Coast on the road. Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson thought that a lack of rebounding hurt the Bison in this game more than any other time this season. In the second half Florida Gulf Coast scored 24 points in the paint, 10 on second chances. “They hurt us on the backboards,” Sanderson said. “They took the shots we wanted them to take, but we just didn’t box out when we were playing a zone defense. It was our emphasis all week and we didn’t do it.” Marvin Williams led the Bison with eight rebounds, a season high. “We are small,” Sanderson said. “We had a hard time keeping them in front of us. That is why we went to the zone.” The Bison trailed 33-29 in the first half. With 9:17 left in the second half the Bison held a 13-point lead at 63-50. Florida Gulf Coast went on an 11-0 scoring run to pull within two points, 63-61, with 3:47 left in regulation. “I never thought we were in control of the game,” Sanderson said. “We are so inconsistent. We will have foolish and silly turnovers...