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...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 5, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
It’s been nearly 20 months since Nathan Moran has appeared in a basketball game for the Lipscomb Bisons. The team won its first-ever ASUN tournament title and made its first NCAA tournament appearance while Moran rode the bench as a redshirt last season. But that certainly wasn’t by choice. The former walk-on has dealt with injuries throughout his career, and he discovered after his junior season that he had torn labrums in both hips. To make matters worse, Moran’s right hip also required microfracture surgery. “The cartridge had peeled off, so they had to drill holes in my bone,” Moran said of his right hip. “That was a super long recovery and it was very painful. When I thought I was getting back, I wasn’t [healthy], which was stressful.” After a lengthy recovery, the sharpshooter is finally ready to get back on the court. He is expected to play in Lipscomb’s opener against Sewanee on Tuesday. “I’m close to 100 percent,” he said. “I’ve had some good weeks and some bad weeks. I’m feeling good right now at the right time.” Moran’s ball-handling and shooting were sorely missed last season, according to Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander. “I think we were lucky to survive without him because he means that much to our team,” Alexander said. “In that sense, it’s great to have him back.” Moran returned to practice in January, but his lack of lateral mobility at the time made a midseason return impossible. He then took a redshirt season to salvage his final year of eligibility. “We thought that if I didn’t have microfracture [surgery] on my right...
by Russell Vannozzi | Sep 6, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, News Slider, Sports
Marshall County High School basketball standout K.J. Johnson is bringing his talents to Green Hills. The highly-coveted combo guard announced his commitment to Lipscomb via Twitter Wednesday evening. “After praying and talking it over with my family, I would like to announce that I will be staying home and furthering my education and basketball career at Lipscomb University,” Johnson said in the tweet. According to HoopSeen, coach Casey Alexander and his staff made Johnson a top priority. The Bisons recently offered Johnson a scholarship, and he quickly jumped on the chance to play approximately 50 miles from his Lewisburg home. The 6-foot-2 guard had offers from Morehead State, North Alabama, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin, in addition to interest from Murray State, ETSU and Western Kentucky. Johnson was named Tennessee’s Class AA Mr. Basketball after averaging 31.4 points, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals for Marshall County last season. He then drew more college attention while starring for the Elite Amateur Basketball Club on the AAU circuit this summer. KJ Johnson with 44 here at #BIGSHOTS #RockyTop pic.twitter.com/d3xgBFrgp5 — BIG SHOTS Midwest (@BigShotsMW) April 8, 2018 Johnson joins forward Jacob Hobbs as the second commitment of Lipscomb’s 2019 recruiting class. Hobbs, who hails from Cecilia, Kentucky, gave his pledge to the Bisons in August. Hobbs and Johnson will help replace Garrison Mathews, Nathan Moran, Eli Pepper and Rob Marberry, who are each entering their final season of eligibility. Photo courtesy of HoopSeen.com Thank you god. ???? pic.twitter.com/V73pT4hnIW — Kj Johnson ? (@_glo_boy_3) September 5,...
by Cole Gray | Jan 11, 2018 | BREAKING NEWS, Sports
Bisons point guard Nathan Moran, who has not played in a game this year, plans to redshirt the season to focus on “trying to get my full speed and strength back,” he told Lumination Network in a text message. Coach Casey Alexander said Moran was healthy enough to return, but wouldn’t play “unless something changes” in his recovery or team circumstances. “It’s been slower than normal,” Alexander said. “It’s all health-related.” In college athletics, a player choosing to redshirt saves a year of eligibility, but forfeits the additional year of eligibility if they enter a game during the redshirt season. Moran started every game of the 2016-17 season,, averaged 11.1 points per game and was second in the A-SUN with 4.2 assists per game last year. The team’s leading shooter, he made 90 three-pointers at a 41.7% clip. He finished the year with a torn labrum in each hip and underwent surgeries in April and June. The senior said he made the decision to redshirt the season after Lipscomb swept crosstown rival Belmont in December. He returned to practice on Jan. 5. Feeling super thankful and lucky to be able to practice this week for the first time in over 9 months! GOD IS SOOOOO GOOD!!! — Nathan Moran (@nate5_moran) January 10, 2018 The 11-5 Bisons play their second conference game on the road at North Florida (6-12) tonight at 6:00 PM. Lipscomb is 5-5 on the road and opened the A-SUN slate with a win at Kennesaw State Saturday. The Ospreys, led by sophomore guard Ivan Gandia-Rosa, are 5-1 at home. The last time Lipscomb played North Florida, junior guard...
