Williams leads the way in Bisons’ defeat over Austin Peay

The Bisons defeated Austin Peay 69-63 during the last game before their winter break Sunday night in Allen Arena. Sophomore guard Josh Williams led the way for the Bisons, scoring 21 points. Three other players put up double digits, including sophomore forward Brett Wishon with 14, senior forward Malcolm Smith with 11 and freshman guard Nathan Moran with 10. Austin Peay’s Chris Freeman scored 15, and Chris Horton scored 13 points. Austin Peay dropped to 4-8. The Bisons head into winter break with an overall record of 5-7 and will be back in action on Dec. 29 at Chattanooga. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...

Bisons edge Tigers to get first D1 win of season

It took a little time, but the Lipscomb Bisons now have a Division 1 win in the W column. The team (3-5) defeated the Tennessee State Tigers (2-7)  77-68 Saturday at Allen Arena in an afternoon tipoff. Senior forward Malcolm Smith (22 points) led the Bisons’ attack inside the paint, where the team amassed 44 of its 77 points. In the first half, the Bisons and Tigers looked evenly matched. Both teams struggled early to generate any sort of offensive pressure. But, Smith helped spark Lipscomb with five straight to give the home team a 9-4 lead with 12:20 to half. The Tigers began to spark their own game from the perimeter soon after to get back in the game. After a quick lead switch-off in the low 20s, the Bisons took back momentum and led at half, 36-31. To start the second, the Tigers came out hot on a 7-0 run to get the 37-36 lead at 18:01, but a 3 from freshman guard Aaron Korn settled the Bisons down. After TSU led by 8, the Bisons got back into the game and inched their way to a strong lead late in the game. Lipscomb never let TSU back in and picked up their third win of the season. Smith led all scorers with 22 and all rebounders with 8, while TSU’s junior guard Marcus Roper was not too far behind in points with 21. Freshman guard Nathan Moran put up 14 for Lipscomb, and sophomore guard Josh Williams had 13. The Bisons will look to build on this one with a road trip to Austin Peay next...

Bruins defeat Bisons in thrilling ‘Battle’

For the second time in only a week the Lipscomb Bisons have fallen to their Battle of the Boulevard rival Belmont Bruins, this time by a score of 82-77. The 136th edition of the ‘Battle’ had a familiar feeling as the Bruins came out with a victory for the seventh iteration in a row, albeit by a much closer margin than this season’s first matchup. “I’m proud of our players,” Lipscomb head coach Casey Alexander said.” “[They showed] a lot of persistence, and real great effort to battle back like that.” Seniors Malcolm and Martin Smith kept the Bisons in the game in the final moments. Both finished with 21 points on the night. Malcolm Smith tied Talbott Denny for a team leading 6 rebounds and notched 3 assists as well. “They’re [Martin and Malcolm Smith] seniors and they’re both thousand-point scorers.” Alexander said, “That’s what they’ve proven they can do. They have to keep doing it.” Clutch free throws from junior Craig Bradshaw down the stretch helped secure the victory for the Bruins. Bradshaw scored 29 points in the game, a new career high, and went 5-7 from downtown. He also collected 5 rebounds and 4 assists. “He was their best player down the stretch last year,” Alexander said about Bradshaw, “He’s had some unbelievable games, and he killed us when he had to kill us.” A back-breaking three-pointer from junior Jeff Laidig started the Bruins on a devastating 14-0 run in the waning moments of the first half. Laidig’s basket, which came directly after Lipscomb’s Malcolm Smith had tied the game at 27, crippled any momentum the...

Bisons take victory while Lady Bisons come up short in doubleheader

The Lipscomb Bisons survived a spooky first half from the Transylvania Pioneers to win 74-63. The Pioneers hung close in the first half, but the Bisons were able to expand the lead once they hit the court in the second frame. “They were making tough shots at the end of the shot clock,” head coach Casey Alexander said. “And that’s really all we can ask for our defense to do. It’d be nice to get a turnover, but to force them to plat offense for a long time and then throw up a couple of prayers, but beyond that they just played well. They played with a lot of confidence.” The Bisons second half surge benefitted from a pressure defense that forced the Pioneers into committing numerous turnovers, several of which led to quick transition baskets for Lipscomb. The fast-paced offense combined with the suffocating defense had the Bisons clicking in the second half. Freshman Nate Moran led all scorers on the night with 16 to go along with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Sophomore Josh Williams almost notched a double-double in the game with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Lipscomb managed to keep a balanced attack for entirety of the game. Nine Bisons in all scored during the game, including three in double figures. Sophomore Brett Wishon was the other Bison in double-figures with 10 alongside Williams and Moran. “We’ll play the one’s who deserve to play,” Alexander said, “If that’s eight, we’ll play eight. If that’s 12 or 13 we’ll do that.” Senior Malcolm Smith finished the game with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists...

Bisons fall to Bruins in season’s first Battle of the Boulevard

In the 135th iteration of the Battle of the Boulevard, the Bisons lost to their same-street rival Belmont for the sixth consecutive time 87-62. Sophomore Josh Williams was one of the few bright spots for the Bisons. He scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds. The Bruins started off the game scorching with a pair of quick baskets from Junior Craig Bradshaw and Senior Reece Chamberlain in front of the raucous Lipscomb crowd. The baskets helped spark a 19-5 to begin the game for Belmont. By the halfway point of the first half, the Bisons cut the lead down to single digits, 24-16 thanks to the trio of senior Martin Smith, sophomore J.C. Hampton and Williams. In what was a game of streaks, the Bruins responded with another hot streak of their own. Belmont held a commanding 40-26 lead with less than three minutes left to play before halftime. “When we go on a run, it just takes one simple thing like a missed rotation or a breakdown just to stop the run,” Smith said, “We just got to get the little things right.” Smith scored surpassed 1,000 points for his career on the night, joining his brother Malcolm who surpassed the milestone in the 2014 Atlantic Sun Tournament. “It feels pretty good, wish we could’ve got the win though.” Smith said. Had it not been for a pair of three point plays, one traditional and one the hard way, from Williams and another three from freshman Nate Moran in the final moments of the half, the halftime deficit may have been insurmountable. The Bisons, however, only trailed by...