by Mckenzi Harris | Apr 4, 2019 | Galleries
Lipscomb’s Office of Student Life hosted an NIT watch party in the Bison Cafe center Tuesday to allow students, faculty and alumni to gather together for the Lipscomb-Wichita State semifinal showdown on ESPN. At least 250 faithful Lipscomb supporters turned out for the party. The Bisons beat the Shockers 71-64 to advance to the NIT championship game, where they will face the Texas Longhorns Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. Lipscomb had about 400 supporters on the ground in New York, but the rest of the fans were in Bennett Campus Center or watching at home. Read full story...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 28, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Garrison Mathews wasn’t ready for his college career to end Wednesday in the NIT quarterfinals at NC State. Instead, the Lipscomb senior dropped a career-high 44 points to lead the Bisons to a 94-93 upset victory over NC State in Reynolds Coliseum. But it was Kenny Cooper that made the game-winning shot, an off-balance jumper with 1.7 seconds remaining. That advanced Lipscomb to the NIT Final Four in New York City. “We’ve won big road games already. We’ve got a lot of experience,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “Every time they came over to the huddle, they thought they were going to win. These guys believe in what they’re doing, they’re performing when their number is called and we got the result we wanted.” The Bisons (28-7) are set to battle Wichita State April 2 at Madison Square Garden. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. Mathews set the tone by scoring Lipscomb’s first 11 points, and he didn’t stop there. The senior guard finished the first half with 20 points and added 22 more in the second half. That included eight three-point makes. “My teammates were giving me great passes, great screens,” he said. “They were helping me get open a little bit. It was just nice to get off to a little bit of a start, and it just kept going. NC State guard Torin Dorn nearly kept pace with Mathews and finished with 34 points, 21 of which came in the first half. Junior guard Markell Johnson scored all 19 of his points in the final 20 minutes for the Wolfpack. The contest was...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 23, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
GREENSBORO, N.C – Road games simply don’t bother the Lipscomb men’s basketball team. In front of a mostly-hostile Greensboro Coliseum crowd, the Bisons delivered a dominant performance in an 86-69 blowout of UNCG Saturday in the NIT. The Bisons will play the winner of NC State-Harvard on Wednesday, March 27 in the tournament quarterfinals. Lipscomb continued to add to its NCAA Division I-era road win record with its 13th of the season. The Bisons had 10 road wins last season, but they eclipsed that mark with an 87-75 victory over North Alabama on March 1. “I don’t know what it is,” Lipscomb senior Garrison Mathews said of playing on the road. “It’s a good feeling that we can come [play] in front of the great crowd that [UNCG] had and play well.” Mathews and fellow senior Rob Marberry were at their best against the Spartans. Marberry led the way with 24 points on 12-of-13 shooting, while Mathews produced a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Spartans jumped out to an early lead behind the hot hands of senior Francis Alonso and junior Isaiah Miller. But Lipscomb made 10 of its final 11 shots in the first half to take a 43-35 advantage into the break. After Mathews made a three with 1:38 remaining in the first, the Bisons never relinquished their lead. Much of that run was thanks to crisp passing – including a long runner from Marberry to Nathan Moran to end the half with a layup and a 10-2 run. Lipscomb finished with 20 assists to UNCG’s seven. “Any time that we can get a bunch...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 20, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Any thought that the Lipscomb men’s basketball team wouldn’t be interested in the NIT was dispelled Tuesday night at John M. Belk Arena. Despite trailing for 27 of the 40 minutes, Lipscomb pulled off a late comeback for an 89-81 victory over Davidson in the first round of the NIT. The Bisons will travel to UNCG for the second round at a to-be-determined date and time. “We have a lot of old, experienced guys, and it hasn’t shown necessarily in the previous games,” Lipscomb junior guard Michael Buckland said. “You could tell that a lot of us didn’t want that game to not finish in our favor. So yeah, just a lot of resolve from our guys – a lot of experience showed tonight.” Senior forward Eli Pepper hit a dagger three in the corner with 34 seconds left, but it was Buckland who stole the show in the final minutes. Buckland, a native of nearby High Point, North Carolina, swished a three with 5:12 remaining to give Lipscomb a 74-71 lead, which the Bisons never relinquished. He followed that with eight more points down the stretch to finish with a team-high 19 points, including four makes from long range. “[Buckland] shot it great and made timely baskets,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “He doesn’t get any notoriety for what he does defensively. But [Davidson’s] two guards are as good as any we’ve played all season long. And he guarded those guys all night.” Davidson recruited Buckland during his time at Wesleyan Christian Academy, but the Wildcats never extended an offer. In front of plenty of family...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 11, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb’s basketball season wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. Not after rolling through the ASUN and taking the league’s No. 1 seed. Not with five seniors, three of which are 1,000-point scorers. Not with the conference Player of the Year on its roster. Not with road victories at TCU, SMU and Liberty. No, no, no. Absolutely not. 2019 was supposed to be Lipscomb’s year. The Bisons were to be everyone’s NCAA tournament darling – the team that was built to potentially ruin brackets. Every major bracketologist had Lipscomb in the field of 68. But in sports, and especially in March, there are no guarantees. And that’s exactly why we watch with such anticipation, even though there’s always a chance for heartbreak. And there was plenty of heartbreak to go around Sunday in Allen Arena, where Lipscomb dropped a 74-68 loss to Liberty in the ASUN championship. The Flames get to go dancing, the Bisons get to go to the NIT. “It’s disappointing,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “One of the hats you wear when you’re the head coach…you’re responsible for making a lot of people happy. Personally, I hate that we couldn’t deliver the final result that would have kind of put the whole thing over the top.” The Flames earned it. They made shots when it mattered most, including Scottie James’ go-ahead layup with 56 seconds left and a dagger three-pointer from Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz 40 seconds later. Meanwhile, Lipscomb’s stars faded at the end. Mathews committed the turnover that led to James’ layup and later missed a three-pointer with four ticks remaining. Rob Marberry missed a layup...
