by Russell Vannozzi | Apr 5, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
March 10 was a heartbreaking day for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team. After being projected by every major bracketologist to be in the NCAA tournament, the Bisons saw their dreams fade in a 74-68 loss to Liberty in the ASUN championship game. Even worse, the defeat came in front of a record Allen Arena crowd of 5,687. But the Bisons refused to fold despite the disappointment. Instead, they delivered a thrilling NIT run that ended with an 81-66 championship loss to Texas in New York Thursday night. “We’re disappointed we didn’t play better, but the only thing to be sad about is this team doesn’t have any more days together,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “But we have to finish it up, because we maxed out pretty well.” The Bisons played five NIT games and won four of them. Garrison Mathews, undoubtedly the team’s star, put on several unforgettable performances and averaged 26 points per NIT contest. The final two games came in Madison Square Garden on primetime television. It’s hard to ask for much more, other than, say, an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. “They’re as good as any team we’ve played this year,” UNCG coach Wes Miller said following his team’s 86-69 loss to Lipscomb March 23. “Wofford is a great basketball team, and Lipscomb is on that level – they should be in the NCAA tournament. And I think they’d be winning games in the NCAA tournament.” But not everyone is a believer. Senior forward Rob Marberry and his purple-clad teammates were mistaken for TCU players at a New York Starbucks earlier this week. Later, in a...
by Erin Franklin | Apr 5, 2019 | Galleries, News Slider, Newscast
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The postseason magic finally ran out for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team in Thursday’s NIT championship game. Texas used 13 three-pointers and its pesky defense to take the NIT title with an 81-66 victory over Lipscomb in Madison Square Garden. Senior forward Rob Marberry led the Bisons with 17 points, while senior guard Garrison Mathews had 15 and led with eight rebounds. “They did an excellent job guarding us,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “Garrison, for a large part, [they] took him out of the game, especially until he got to the free throw line [in] the second half.” Full story here. Photos by Erin Franklin « ‹ of 2 ›...
by Erin Franklin | Apr 4, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Garrison Mathews, Eli Pepper and Coach Casey Alexander met after practice to talk about their thoughts for tonight’s NIT Championship game against Texas in Madison Square Garden. Senors Mathews and Pepper also discussed the significance of tonight’s game for the five seniors on the team. Read Russell Vannozzi’s full story about Tuesday night’s game here....
by Erin Franklin | Apr 3, 2019 | Galleries
Things looked bleak for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team with 3:46 left in Tuesday’s NIT semifinal game at Madison Square Garden. Wichita State appeared to be in control, but the Bisons had a final surprise for the Shockers. Powered by senior leader Garrison Mathews, Lipscomb closed the game on a 14-0 run to steal a 71-64 victory and advance to the NIT title game. The Bisons will battle Texas for the championship Thursday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN. Read full story by Russell Vannozzi here. Photos by Erin Franklin. « ‹ of 3 ›...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 27, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Michael Buckland will play the fourth postseason game of his Lipscomb career Wednesday night when the Bisons take on North Carolina State in the NIT quarterfinals. And, conveniently, that will allow the North Carolina native to play in front of his family and friends yet again. Buckland, who hails from High Point, has family scattered across the state, so each postseason game has offered a slightly different group of people a chance to see him in action. “Every time that we’ve had these games, it’s been in a different place in North Carolina,” he said. “I’ve had friends and family at all of them, but I’ve had different people at every game.” Lipscomb played North Carolina in Charlotte in the 2018 NCAA tournament, and the Bisons played two more postseason games in the Tar Heel State last week when they beat Davidson and UNCG in the first two rounds of the NIT. UNCG is less than 20 miles from High Point, so the Buckland family opened their home to the Bisons last Friday for a night of food, ping-pong, pool and March Madness. The arrangements were made on short notice because Lipscomb did not find out the date and time for the UNCG game until Wednesday afternoon. When Lipscomb Director of Basketball Operations Adam Notteboom asked Buckland for restaurant recommendations, the Lipscomb junior offered his house as an option. Big THANK YOU to the @MBuckland23 family for hosting us tonight. #OurTeam #HornsUp pic.twitter.com/SRdXb9giaB — LipscombMBB (@LipscombMBB) March 23, 2019 “I was like, ‘I’m not sure how my family feels about this, but they’d probably be [happy] to have us...
