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 Russell Vannozzi | Dec 6, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
This year’s Lipscomb basketball team may be one of the most talented the school has ever assembled. They just won’t be remembered by their Belmont performances. Although senior Nathan Moran had a chance to win it with a fadeaway three as the clock expired, the Bruins played like the better team for most of what became a 76-74 Belmont victory at the Curb Event Center Tuesday night. This one hurts a bit more because it came less than three weeks after an 87-83 home loss to the Bruins on Nov. 15. The Bisons are now 6-2, with both defeats at the hands of their archrival. Lipscomb also missed out on two opportunities for quality wins because Belmont (7-1) appears to be primed for a stellar year and possibly an OVC title. But these losses won’t define Lipscomb’s season. In fact, the very opposite is true. Short of a near-perfect season, the Bisons won’t be in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. They must win the ASUN tournament title or they’ll be heading to the NIT, CIT or watching March basketball from home, regardless of how the rest of the regular season goes. That’s because the ASUN is simply too weak of a conference. Only four of the nine ASUN teams are currently in the top 250 of the NCAA’s new NET ranking system. Lipscomb’s strength of schedule will diminish as it enters ASUN play, and its chances for quality wins will be minimal. But Tuesday’s Battle of the Boulevard wasn’t all bad. Lipscomb didn’t play its best basketball yet still managed to give the Bruins all...
by Spencer Boehme | Nov 25, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Lipscomb men’s soccer team is going home after a hard-fought, 2-1 loss to No. 3 Kentucky in the NCAA Sweet 16. After a 1-7 record to start the year, the Bisons put up an incredible fight the rest of the way. They sneaked through the NCAA tournament with improbable overtime victories against Washington and UCF, but there wasn’t enough magic to give them another. “This run that we’ve had … is in large part due to the leadership of our senior group,” Lipscomb coach Charles Morrow said. “And [I’m] just really, really proud of them.” Lipscomb’s lone goal came from redshirt senior forward Logan Paynter in the 76th minute. Paynter finished his career with 36 goals – the most in Lipscomb soccer history. “I love Lipscomb more than anything,” Paynter said. “My five years here have been the most amazing time of my life.” His goal tied the game at one shortly after a Wildcat goal from Jason Reyes in the second period, but UK was able to respond with a game-winner from Bailey Rouse in the 81st minute. The Wildcats outshot the Bisons 20-10, and nine of Kentucky shots were on target. “Not necessarily the best soccer teams win,” Morrow said. “But sometimes just…the more athletic teams win.” The first half was all Kentucky. The Wildcats had eleven shots in the first half, with junior forward J.J. Williams grabbing four. Lipscomb could only muster three first-half shots. The Wildcats had only one roadblock: Lipscomb goalkeeper Chris Zappia. The redshirt senior grabbed six saves in the first 45 minutes, and many of those saves were physical stops on...
by Russell Vannozzi | Nov 19, 2018 | News Slider, Sports
ORLANDO, Fla. – If there’s a Cinderella story in the NCAA men’s soccer tournament, it’s been the Lipscomb Bisons. And after a 1-0 overtime upset of No. 9 Central Florida on Sunday, the shoe apparently fits well. Lipscomb’s Louis Robinson got a foot on low cross from Austin Eager in the 97th minute, and the freshman beat UCF keeper Yannik Oettl to give the Bisons a 1-0 victory. The win came just three days after Lipscomb stunned Washington with a 5-4 victory in penalty kicks. The Bisons then made the cross-country trip from Seattle to Orlando on Friday to prepare for their second-round match at UCF. Lipscomb goalie Chris Zappia had another career night and made eight saves for the second consecutive game. UCF fired 19 total shots to Lipscomb’s eight, but the Bison defense held on for extra time. Just before Robinson’s decisive tally, Logan Paynter and Noah Gulden each had shots on the UCF net. The ball was cleared away by UCF and corralled by Ryan Birchfield, who fed a pass to Eager to set up the game-winning strike. Survive. Advance. @LipscombMSOC is moving on after an OT winner!#NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/DJJN66OknH — NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) November 19, 2018 The Knights (13-2-3) controlled possession and appeared to have the Bisons on their heels for much of the first half. But after allowing 10 UCF shots in the first 45 minutes, the Bisons allowed just five in the second half. Robinson, a midfielder from Nottingham, England, emerged as a goal-scoring threat midway through the season. His four goals are tied for second most on the team behind Paynter’s nine tallies....
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,...
