by Logan Butts | Nov 14, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
On a day that saw the Lipscomb men’s and women’s basketball, men’s soccer and volleyball teams all play home games, the Bisons almost finished the marathon undefeated. The men’s basketball team provided the nightcap for the day, taking down Berry College 91-70 in their season opener. Head coach Casey Alexander played everyone on the roster early and often, including the four freshmen and one transfer new to the team. Even with usual starter Malcolm Smith not dressing out, the Bisons had more than enough players to go around. “We went into the game with the intention of giving everybody as many minutes as we could and spreading those out, and we were able to stick with it” Alexander said, “it wasn’t nearly as pretty as we wanted it to be, but that [the subbing strategy] was by design.” With many players subbing in and out throughout the game, the Bisons were able to keep fresh bodies in the game constantly in an effort to keep their pace at a high level. Lipscomb was forcing turnovers and scoring off of fast breaks all night, especially during an 11-5 run to start the second half. Berry College was never able to recover from the Bisons run to begin the first half. Lipscomb continued to push the ball, and the quick pace resulted in two big breakaway dunks from Josh Williams, the night’s leading scorer with 32 points on 9-15 shooting. Senior Martin Smith filled up the stat sheet in the win. Smith finished with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Out of all the Bisons debuting on the night, freshman...
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 Cory Woodroof | Feb 6, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
When you extend your conference winning streak to four, the best way to do so is to win by knocking down a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds to go in the game. At least that’s what works for the Lipscomb Bisons men’s basketball team. After a road stretch in Kentucky and Florida, freshman guard Josh Williams’ game-ending three gave the Bisons a 77-75 win over the visiting USC Upstate at Allen Arena – the fourth straight Atlantic Sun win for Lipscomb. After Thursday’s win, the Bisons are officially on a hot streak. During a tense first half, the Bisons and the Spartans swapped the lead on more than one occasion, as neither team ever truly broke away from the other. Upstate grabbed a quick 31-29 lead at the half. In the second, Lipscomb and Upstate continued to showcase the ebb-and-flow nature of their battle, with neither team getting up for too long. However, the Spartans gained late steam, holding a 71-63 lead with a little over two minutes to go. But, a Chad Johnson three-pointer gave the Bisons a spark, as Williams and redshirt freshman guard J.C. Hampton also knocked down shots from the arch to help put the Bisons within three with around a minute to go. A Hampton layup pulled the team within one, and after Williams’ last-second jaw-dropper from the three-point line, the Bisons held the Spartans’ offense during the closing seconds to get the win. Williams and Hampton led the charge for the Bisons in scoring with 21, while senior forward Torrey Craig led for the Spartans with 18. Lipscomb’s junior forward Martin Smith had 14 points, while...
