by Cory Woodroof | Mar 1, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb Bisons men’s basketball team won one for the lone senior against the Stetson Hatters Saturday at Allen Arena. In an early morning tipoff, the Bisons secured a 83-76 win over Stetson. As fans munched on free goodies from Fox’s Donut Den, the Bisons engaged in a highly defensive match. In the first half, Lipscomb only made three of 13 attempts from the 3-point line, including the first points of the game, a 3-pointer from senior guard/forward Khion Sankey. Despite the troubles from beyond the perimeter, Lipscomb inched closer and closer to Stetson’s cementing lead, with the Hatters up 38-36 at the break. In the second half, the Bisons began to pick up steam. The 3-point problems began to erode, as the team made five of their 11 attempts. Lipscomb also out-rebounded Stetson 19-to-12 in the latter half. While Lipscomb never truly pulled away from the Hatters, the Bisons would hold on to win 83-76. “It feels great, especially to get a win at home,” redshirt freshman J.C. Hampton said. Freshman guard Josh Williams led the team in both scoring and rebounding with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Martin Smith was not too far behind with 20 points. Junior guard Malcolm Smith had 18 points and six rebounds. Hampton had nine points and five rebounds. Fouling from Stetson helped Lipscomb’s cause, as the Bisons went 31-for-40 from the line. Malcom Smith hit 10 of his 12 attempts. With the win, the Bisons close the regular season with a winning record overall (15-14) and in conference (10-8). The team finished fifth in Atlantic Sun regular season play behind Florida...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Feb 28, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Allen Arena hosted another exciting game on Thursday night as the Bisons’ basketball team topped Florida Gulf Coast University 92-71 with the help of sharp 3-point shooting. From the tip-off, the Eagles of FGCU scored two points to lead 2-0, but the Bisons answered, scoring six straight three-pointers. From there, Lipscomb never looked back, leading by 20 at the half. Bisons head coach Casey Alexander said that the shooting helped lead the team to victory. “We shot the ball great the whole night, and making our first six was a huge lift for us…confidence wise, and we held the lead from there,” Alexander said. In the second half, the Bisons cooled off, but they stayed consistent and continued to be aggressive, take shots and most importantly, make the shots. In total, Lipscomb scored fifteen three’s, six from junior forward Martin Smith, one from senior guard/forward Khion Sankey, three from freshman guard Josh Williams and three from redshirt freshman guard J.C. Hampton. Martin Smith and Hampton tied for 21 points to lead the team. Junior forward Malcolm Smith and sophomore guard Talbott Denny also scored double digits with 20 points and 11, respectively. As good as the shooting was, Alexander said that the perimeter shooting was not necessarily part of the plan on Thursday. “We just took the shots that came to us,” Alexander said. “We didn’t come out here trying to shoot a lot of three’s; that wasn’t really part of the game plan.” FGCU responded to Lipscomb’s shooting, as junior guard Brett Comer lead the charge with 27 points. It was not enough, however. The Eagles, over the course of the game, turned...
by Erika Thornsberry | Feb 22, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
For the Bisons men’s basketball team, this Friday night started out a little slow, but the end was anything but slow. Conference foe Northern Kentucky traveled to Allen Arena to play the victorious Bisons, who won the conference game 70-66. Northern Kentucky was first to get on the score board, and Bisons head coach Casey Alexander didn’t waste any time pulling out all five of his starters and putting in a fresh five. It didn’t take long after that for junior Malcolm Smith to get two three point plays (two baskets plus free throws) and for the momentum to start shifting in favor of the Bisons. “My teammates were really looking for me. We took advantage of the size mix-match down low,” Malcolm Smith said. “I focused on posting up hard, attacking the basket quick, and when I got to the foul line, knocking them down.” Going into halftime, senior Khion Sankey made a shot right at the buzzer making it 35-29 in favor of Lipscomb. That wasn’t the only big shot of the game as Martin Smith knocked down a 3 pointer with 34.8 seconds left giving the Bisons a 67-63 score. “It was a huge shot,” Malcolm Smith said. “That made it a two possession game. It helped us put the game away.” During time out, Coach Alexander drew a play up, but sometimes, once you’re out on the court, things don’t go exactly as planned. “That’s not the play we drew up, but we improvised well,” Alexander said. “J.C Hampton hit Martin right on the money, and he stepped up and hit the shot. He’s made a...
by Bridgette Begle | Feb 10, 2014 | Sports
By Bridgette Begle and Erika Thornsberry With temperatures dropping into single digits in recent weeks, spring sports have seen little time outside on their fields, courts and courses. Tennis, golf, baseball and softball are being forced to share time inside as the winter weather continues to blow through. Senior golfer MacKenzy Carter says, “Being inside creates a disadvantage for us because we can’t actually hit off of real grass. The indoor mats and nets don’t allow us to actually see the ball flight and judge distance.” Golf uses the nets on the side of the court in McQuiddy while baseball and softball share time in the upper levels where the pitching mounds and two hitting cages are located. “Going from the field to a tiny space with only two cages limits space for the team to work together,” said sophomore softball player Tanner Sanders. Sanders is a pitcher for the Lady Bison and goes on to say, “The lighting inside [McQuiddy] is terrible. Therefore our pitchers cannot pitch live inside the cages. Not to mention we will also need a lot of work on defense before season begins which isn’t possible if we are inside.” Tennis is missing its outdoor courts because of the role that natural elements play in their game. “The biggest difference between indoor and outdoor tennis are the sun, the wind and the temperature,” says senior Stuart Tierney. “Outdoors you have to play with the elements. You have to understand which way the wind is blowing, and where the sun is in the sky.” This cold weather isn’t the only thing bringing these spring sport...
by Aaron Schmelzer | Feb 9, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Force was strong with the Bisons in Saturday’s game against ETSU in Allen Arena, but not strong enough. Lipscomb Athletics hosted the 6th annual Star Wars night during the Bisons’ game against Eastern Tennessee State University but the team fell 96-88 to the visiting Buccaneers. While the children got pictures with their favorite bounty hunters, Jedi and even Darth Vader, Lipscomb stayed neck-and-neck with the Bucs until about the final three minutes. From the tip-off, freshman guard Josh Williams scored the first three points of the game from the left of the basket. From there, neither team stopped shooting threes. The Buccaneers attempted 15 shots from the arch in the game and made seven. Junior ETSU guard Jalen Riley scored 12 points behind the arc, while scoring 30 in total for the night. The Bisons made 13 of their 34 three-point attempts, finishing with a 38 percent three-point shooting percentage. It was a close game, as the scored had been tied 15 times, and there were 27 lead changes. The Bisons’ scoring slowed and nearly came to a halt in the final minutes as ETSU pulled away with free throws. Head coach Casey Alexander said that although the team kept it close, the Bisons could not get in rhythm or be aggressive. “We never got in a rhythm defensively. We could never get stops together; we could never stop their offensive momentum. “We weren’t necessarily behind in points, but we were never the aggressor out in front out there.” Lipscomb had two players cross the 20 points mark. Junior forward Malcolm Smith lead the team with 27 points. Redshirt...
