Bisons fall to Atlantic Sun Conference leader FGCU

The Bisons fell 76-74 to Atlantic Sun Conference leader FGCU Saturday afternoon in Allen Arena. Senior forward Malcolm Smith led the team, scoring 23 points with six rebounds. Sophomore guard Josh Williams battled through an injury in the first half, but added 15 points to the game. Freshman George Brammeier made a career-best, scoring six points and making four rebounds. At halftime, the Eagles were leading with 34-30. The Bisons shot 38.5 percent in the first half and reached 46.4 percent in the last 20 minutes of the game. Jamail Jones led FGCU with 24 points and Brett Comer added a double-double for the Eagles with an 11-point, 10-assist night. The Bisons will be on the road for the next three games but will return to Allen Arena to take on Kennesaw State on Saturday, Feb. 28. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Bisons advance with fifth conference win over Stetson

The Lipscomb mens basketball team recorded its fifth conference win over the Stetson Hatters with 87-85 on Thursday night in Allen Arena. The slow starting game began as both teams struggled to establish any momentum. After the media timeout the Bisons began to find their feet and gained an assertive lead 43-27 just eight minutes later. The Bisons were able to turn the tables from two weeks earlier, where they found themselves under the pump in the reverse fixture on Jan. 31. The team entered intermission holding a substantial lead 51-37. Lipscomb was en route to a season-best with 51 points at halftime. That gave the Purple and Gold a 14-point cushion at the break, something the Bisons would need as the Hatters would outscore them 48-36 in the final 20 minutes of action. “We need to limit our turnovers, and take better shots,” senior forward Malcolm Smith said. “We have been struggling on defense and I would say that’s something we need to work on going into the next few games.” Smith led Lipscomb with 29 points. Sophomore guard Josh Williams followed just behind with 25 points. “We’ll take the win, but we need to make improvements to make some noise in the conference tournament,” Malcolm said. In previous games, the Bisons have had issues with their offense and defense, but the topic for this game was the team’s poor turnover against the Hatters. “It was almost [a] carbon copy of that previous game, [but] this time it turned out differently,” head coach Casey Alexander said. “It was almost the same game which adds to the frustration.” In this case...

Best defensive game by the Lady Bisons not enough against FGCU Eagles

The Lady Bisons played their best defensive game of the year but came out short against number one, Florida Gulf Coast University. The beginning of the game was a slow start for both teams offensively, but ultimately the Bisons jumped out on top leading by as many as ten in the first half. What started as a pretty even game at the half slowly tilted in favor of the Eagles landing the final score at 67-85. “We didn’t come out with the same defensive intensity and they knocked down some shots and made us pay for it,” said junior Ashley Southern who marked her 15 double-double of the year. The women were not only up against the number one team in the conference but the number nine team in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 9.2. The Bisons gave up 13 of them to FGCU in their 38 attempts. Junior Sara Bliss came out aggressive in her role with six rebounds, three assists and multiple tips. Bliss fought hard for balls forcing at least two jump balls. “I’m definitely a shooter, they tell me to shoot it all the time, but as one of the older players with more experience, I need to bring the leadership asset to the game as well,” Bliss said. Bliss, Southern, Danay Fothergill, Kelli Smith and Chandler Cooper were the starters for the Bison and accounted for all but four points. Lipscomb’s bench, however limited, added only four points to the board compared to 27 off of the Eagle’s bench. The leading scorer of the game was Fothergill who also sunk 10 out...

Two Bison players not present at practice before A-Sun tourney; status unknown

Bison basketball players Damarius Smith and Marvin Williams were not present at Monday’s practice just two days before the opening round of the Atlantic Sun tournament. Smith, a redshirt freshman, and Williams, also a freshman, did not participate in Monday’s practice and are not expected to join the team in Macon, Ga., for the Atlantic Sun tournament. A source close to the team says “it will be a very interesting 24 hours for the Lipscomb basketball team.” Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson said that it was mainly a “disciplinary issue” with Smith. Sanderson did not elaborate on Williams’ status but said he has missed the last four games because he has been “banged up” with a knee injury. This is not the first time Smith has been held out of playing. Earlier this season against Belmont, Smith dressed and warmed up with the team but did not enter the game. “It was just a discipline issue,” Sanderson said of Smith’s status in the Belmont game. “We handled it internally, and we moved forward.” “We’re just trying to learn and do what’s right,” he said. “Sometimes being young is difficult, and we are just trying to learn from day to day and do the right thing.” Smith averaged 5.2 points per game this season. The most notable points came when he hit the game-winning three in overtime versus Stetson on Jan. 16. Williams had an up-and-down year dealing with injuries and maturing as a player, but just over two weeks ago the Memphis, native scored a season-high 16 points in a 99-91 win over Stetson on Feb. 11. Smith and...

Bison fall to Florida Gulf Coast in overtime, move to 3-3 in Atlantic Sun

One of the primary concerns for the Lipscomb Bison this season has been the ability to rebound. The Bison spent the past week of practice placing an emphasis on board work. But Saturday night at Allen Arena the Bison were outrebounded 53-40 in an 84-80 loss in overtime to Atlantic Sun foe Florida Gulf Coast. The Bison slipped to 8-10 overall, 3-3 in the conference. Florida Gulf Coast is 8-9, 4-3 in the A-Sun. It was only the second win for Florida Gulf Coast on the road. Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson thought that a lack of rebounding hurt the Bison in this game more than any other time this season. In the second half Florida Gulf Coast scored 24 points in the paint, 10 on second chances. “They hurt us on the backboards,” Sanderson said. “They took the shots we wanted them to take, but we just didn’t box out when we were playing a zone defense. It was our emphasis all week and we didn’t do it.” Marvin Williams led the Bison with eight rebounds, a season high. “We are small,” Sanderson said. “We had a hard time keeping them in front of us. That is why we went to the zone.” The Bison trailed 33-29 in the first half. With 9:17 left in the second half the Bison held a 13-point lead at 63-50. Florida Gulf Coast went on an 11-0 scoring run to pull within two points, 63-61, with 3:47 left in regulation. “I never thought we were in control of the game,” Sanderson said. “We are so inconsistent. We will have foolish and silly turnovers...