by Hunter Patterson | Dec 2, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb lost its first game in over a week to A-Sun foe Mercer Thursday night. Mercer grabbed the lead right after the second half started and held on to win 79-72. Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson continues to emphasize to his freshman-loaded squad the necessity to listen and learn. While the Bisons fell 79-72 in their Atlantic Sun Conference opener Thursday against Mercer in Allen Arena, the game will be a teaching opportunity for Sanderson. “I thought Mercer weathered the storm in the first half, but we didn’t weather their storm in the second half,” said Sanderson. Lipscomb was up 30-23 with six minutes to play in the first half and allowed the Bears to tie the game at 34 going into the locker room. Mercer opened the second half with a three and led the rest of the game. They shot 58.3 percent in the second half and 50 percent overall. Lipscomb shot 30.3 percent in the second period and 38.1 percent overall. Turnovers were also an issue for the Bisons. After having 13 or fewer miscues in each of the previous four games, Lipscomb turned the ball over 21 times. “All of our turnovers were pretty much self-induced,” said Sanderson. “We didn’t turn the ball over because of what they did, but because of what we did.” Freshman forward Malcolm Smith posted a career-best 22 points in 14 minutes off the bench. Smith was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line as the Bisons shot 17-of-18 from the line, their best output since hitting 21-of-22 attempts (95.5 percent) against Florida Atlantic on Jan. 19, 2006. The...
by Cooper Torrez | Mar 2, 2011 | Sports
The Bisons opening round matchup in the A-Sun tournament is a familiar one– the host team, the Mercer Bears. Mercer comes off a season finale win over the Bisons 68-67, but the Bisons got the better of Mercer on Dec. 4 in Allen Arena with a 77-65 win. Each team won the regular season matchup on their home court, but Coach Sanderson knows there is much more to winning than just home court advantage. “It’s more about us,” Sanderson said. “It’s not necessarily about Mercer, it’s more about what we do. I think we have won the last four times at Mercer besides our last game in which we were only beat by 1, so I think it’s more about what we do and how we prepare. “We just have to be more focused and know that we have been successful down [at Mercer] before.” Seniors Josh Slater and Adnan Hodzic get much of the attention from opposing teams, and rightfully so. Adnan leads the team in points per game (18) and rebounds (7.5). While Slater leads the team in assists per game (4.7) and is second in points per game (16.5). A big key to the game and tournament is balance. “We just need to be more balanced,” Sanderson said. “If those two guys (Hodzic and Slater) have career nights there is a chance we still may not win, so we have to have balance throughout our roster. We have to have everyone step up and do the things we ask them to do, both offensively and defensively, to take the pressure off of Adnan and Josh as...
by Sydney Poe | Oct 1, 2010 | Sports
The Lady Bisons may have won the match, but they did not seem to be in complete sync throughout all three close sets. “I was a little disappointed,” said Lady Bisons coach Brandon Rosenthal. “I wanted us to give a little bit more.” The third set was the closest with the Mercer Bears coming within two before the Lady Bisons won the set 25-22. Tonight’s game was the first of only 10 conference games this season. The format this year is much different than years past. The Atlantic Sun schedule will look a little different this year as it will consist of a single round robin format, with each member playing each other once for the first time since 2007. In previous years teams played each other twice, once at home and once on the road. “Every one counts that much more,” Rosenthal said. “They’re pretty motivated and they know what’s at hand.” The Lady Bisons will have to fight their way through a tough conference to defend their title as Atlantic Sun conference champions. “To [the team] it’s about winning a championship,” Rosenthal said. The Lady Bisons won set one 25-16, set two 25-20 and set three 25-22. It was the A-Sun opener for both teams. The Lady Bisons are 12-5, 1-0 in the conference. Mercer is 6-13, 0-1 in the A-Sun. The Lady Bisons will face Kennesaw St. tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Allen...
by Hunter Patterson | May 25, 2010 | Sports
MACON, Ga. – The Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball Championship begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. at Dugan Field at Marsh Stadium on the campus of Lipscomb University. FGCU enters the championship as the No. 1 seed after claiming it third consecutive A-Sun regular season title. The Eagles open the A-Sun Championship at 11:00 a.m. CT Wednesday against in-state rival Stetson. The Eagles feature one of the top pitchers in the country in left hander Chris Sale. Sale, a junior, enters the week leading the conference in wins, ERA and strikeouts. The Lakeland, Fla. native sits as the national leader in strikeouts and a candidate for several national awards including the National Pitcher of the Year and Golden Spikes Awards, given to nation’s top player. Sale sits eighth in the conference single season record books in strikeouts with 135, the most by an A-Sun pitcher since Justin Pope of UCF sat down 158 in 2001, while his ERA ranks T-13th best. The Eagles own the conference’s top team ERA by nearly a half run, while boasting a balanced offense with all but one starter featuring a batting average over .300. Mikel Alvarez leads the Eagles in batting average with a .398 mark. Tim Roberson and Zach Maxfield provide the power in the FGCU lineup with the pair each having reached double figures in home runs and collecting at least 56 RBIs. The balance helped the Eagles finish seven and half games clear of the A-Sun field in the regular season standings. While FGCU claimed the A-Sun regular season title two weeks ago, Stetson needed a win in the final game of...
