by Hunter Patterson | Feb 2, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
One of the more memorable games of Don Meyer’s tenure was the 1990 Battle of the Boulevard held in Memorial Gymnasium on Vanderbilt’s campus. Before I dive into the game, let’s take a look back at what Chip Johnson wrote in the Feb. 16th edition of the Babbler leading up to the game. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the number on team in the nation, The Lipscomb University Bisons.” The top ranked Bisons who now stand at 32-4 overall and 14-0 in the TCAC, face their toughest rival Saturday night in a game that is projected to break the attendance record for any NAIA game ever. Entering the game, the Bisons of Lipscomb University and the Rebels of Belmont College were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the TCAC and No. 1 and No. 9 in the nation. That year, the Bison had already played Belmont four times, going 3-1 in those contests. The Bisons were also riding a 15-game winning streak going into the biggest Battle of the Boulevard game in the rivalry’s history. During that streak, Marcus Bodie broke the NAIA record for most steals in a season. Jerry Meyer also broke the Lipscomb record for steals in a season. The span also allowed Hutcheson to work his way up to the number two and three spots on the all-time-scoring list. Everyone was getting up for this game – sports writers, students, die hard fans, casual fans…everyone. Also present was Rick Byrd’s red sweater vest. (Yes, he wore it in 1990, too.) Leading up to the game, the Babbler staff talked to some of those reporters and...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 2, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
The 1980s and 90s were years to remember for the Bisons. The team won its first NAIA National Championship in 1986 behind performances from the likes of Greg Caudle, Anthony Jones and Tom Kelsey. In 1990, the team played in front an NAIA record of 15,400+ at Memorial Gym. The Bisons won that game, too, 124-107 against Belmont. During that time, Lipscomb players also broke records. Philip Hutcheson broke the college basketball scoring record with 4,106 points, which stood until another Bison broke his record four years later. John Pierce, the only fitting successor to Hutch, broke his record four years later with 4230 points. Also, Jerry Meyer held the college basketball record for assists in a career. His teammate Darren Henrie holds the Lipscomb University record for most blocked shots with 273 career blocked shots, holds the university record for blocked shots in a season with 87, the record for dunks with 141 during his career as a Bison and the record for dunks in a single season with 61 dunks. Not to be outdone, Marcus Bodie is the all-time steals leader in college basketball with 440 over his career. Bodie averaged three steals per game over 148 games. After watching Darren Henrie come within 10 three-pointers of college basketball’s all-time record, Andy McQueen set his sights on taking care of some unfinished business. McQueen was deadly from behind the three-point line, hitting 112 as a freshman, 143 as a sophomore, 124 as a junior, and 136 his final season. McQueen would finish with 515 career three-pointers to break college basketball’s all-time record of 467 held by Bill...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 1, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
In the inaugural show of “Herd That” (title pending review from you all) Hunter Patterson and Alexander McMeen discuss everything you need to know about one of the biggest rivalries in college sports. If you are going to argue that is not the biggest, it is definitely the closest. We break down the 1990 game at Memorial, this year’s games and a ton of history about the big game. Listen, give us some feedback, and...
by Hunter Patterson | Jan 31, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
Leading up to the first installment of the “cross-town rivalry” of the ’72-’73 season the two previous games between Belmont and Lipscomb had been decided by a total of five points. The next game, would not be that much different. The Bisons took the lead early on, and survived a late first-half run from the Rebels to take a four point lead into the locker room. Bisons coach Mike Clark took his very young team back out to floor in McQuiddy only to lose the lead to the Rebels. However, with four minutes to go in the game, the Bisons took the lead back from Belmont. The young team filled with five freshman and several sophomores won the game by a score of 66-60. Something interesting about the 1973 team is that there were three guys on the squad over 6’7. As the article below mentions, Calvin Bailey, one of those 6’7 players, was a total stud when it came to grabbing rebounds and scoring points. The complete article from the Jan. 26, 1973 Babbler can be read in its entirety below. by Doug Pinkston The Bisons have plenty of competition in store for them Feb. 3 at Lipscomb’s 26th homecoming as they tackle tough Transylvania University at 3 p.m. Coach Mike Clark leads his team into what he hopes will be a revenge victory against the Pioneers of Lexington, Ky. Liscomb dropped the first contest on the road. The Lipscomb-belmont game, Nashville’s traditional cross-town rivalry gave the Bisons a close and hard-won victory. McQuiddy gym was near its full capacity when the Bisons edged the Belmont Rebels 66-60....
by Hunter Patterson | Jan 30, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
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...