by Adrienne Luu | Feb 6, 2019 | News Slider, Sports, Student Spotlight
If you’ve been to a men’s tennis match in the past four seasons, you may have heard the crowd chanting “Manza!” Lipscomb’s men’s tennis recruited Alejandro Manzanares, the No. 1 player in Venezuela’s 18U division, back in the spring semester of 2015. Throughout his tennis career as a Bison, he has achieved multiple ASUN titles as well as finished every year with a positive individual record. Manzanares is currently a senior in his fifth spring semester. He anticipates on graduating this upcoming May. Due to NCAA rules, he is unable to play on the team this season since he has already played his four seasons of eligibility. However, head coach Geoff Hernandez offered Manzanares a position as the new assistant coach this season. “I think Alejandro obviously had a high IQ as a tennis player,” Hernandez said. “I knew that coaching was going to be a natural thing for him, and it’s honestly something that I feel like he might do with the rest of his life. On the court, Hernandez said Manzanares was known to have a winner’s mentality, smart play decisions and calm mannerisms. It was only a matter of time before he transferred those qualities over to coaching. “I think as he got organized with his academics in the fall, it was the right time for him to come into the spring, and he has had an immediate impact,” Hernandez said. Ironically, before Manzanares was offered the position, he was actually considering asking Hernandez himself if he could volunteer as the assistant coach. But Hernandez beat him to it, and Manzanares was not surprised that the opportunity presented...
by Russell Vannozzi | Feb 4, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
‘Undersized’ might seem like an odd label for a man that stands 6-foot-7. But because Lipscomb’s Rob Marberry plays the center position, that’s exactly how everyone describes him. “He definitely doesn’t pass the eye test,” senior Eli Pepper said of his teammate. “We tell him that all the time. He doesn’t look like a Division I [center].” A quick glance at Marberry’s stat line shows otherwise. The Nashville native is the team’s second-leading scorer with 15.5 points per game, and he pulls down 4.5 rebounds per contest. “Physically he’s not a five, but that’s what he is in our offense,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “He’s got such great skills and the ability to finish with both hands. He’s undersized for a post player, but the ball goes in.” Marberry often outplays opponents that have a height advantage by two or three inches. Take Belmont’s Nick Muszynski as an example. The Bruin freshman stands at 6-foot-10, yet Marberry managed to score 26 points and grab eight rebounds in a 76-74 loss to Belmont on Dec. 4. “Rob Marberry is a really, really good player, and he’s got experience,” Belmont coach Rick Byrd said after the game. “When they needed baskets, they went to him every single time down the floor.” .@robmarberry0 TIES IT UP AT 74-74! The big man is now up to 26 points! #nailbitter #HornsUp pic.twitter.com/vOPxy15RhA — LipscombMBB (@LipscombMBB) December 5, 2018 Similar scenarios played out against SMU, TCU and Clemson, but Marberry was up to the task each time. He scored double figures in 33 straight games before being held to eight points by Florida Gulf...
by Adrienne Luu | Jan 26, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
After losing its opener last week, the Lipscomb men’s tennis team practiced hard in preparation for the second match of the season. The Bisons’ efforts pulled through today and gave them a 7-0 win over Austin Peay University. The Bisons (1-1) took charge of the doubles play and won the doubles point, which started Lipscomb off with a lead against Austin Peay. Playing on the first line, Victor Chaw and Pablo Caffarena began their match with a lead against Austin Peay’s Almantas Ozelis and Anton Damberg. They refused to let the Governors duo catch up to them and kept scoring point after point until they pulled out the Bisons’ first win of 6-2 in doubles. “Me and Pablo are playing fantastic doubles,” Chaw said. “We have an amazing energy every point. I don’t think there’s any pair in the nation that plays with more intensity than us, and that’s why we dominate so much in doubles.” Francesco Tacconi and David Skrabut, playing on third, were leading but were unable to finish their match when Jorge Ortegon and Pedro Uribe, on second, won their 6-2 set against Timo Kiesslich and Jacob Lorino, clinching the doubles point for Lipscomb. Chaw also said that he thinks the Bisons have to improve matches week-by-week. “[The Bisons] aren’t really where [we] want to be…yet,” Chaw said. “If [we] keep improving the little stuff, by conference time [we] will be a very solid team but have to put in the work week-by-week.” With the aggressiveness and competitiveness that played out in doubles, the Lipscomb Bisons carried those emotions over to singles play. On the fourth...
by Mckenzi Harris | Jan 22, 2019 | Galleries
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.” Read Spencer Boehme’s full recap here. Photos by Mckenzi Harris « ‹ of 3 ›...
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...
