by Hunter Patterson | Feb 2, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
One of the more memorable games of Don Meyer’s tenure was the 1990 Battle of the Boulevard held in Memorial Gymnasium on Vanderbilt’s campus. Before I dive into the game, let’s take a look back at what Chip Johnson wrote in the Feb. 16th edition of the Babbler leading up to the game. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the number on team in the nation, The Lipscomb University Bisons.” The top ranked Bisons who now stand at 32-4 overall and 14-0 in the TCAC, face their toughest rival Saturday night in a game that is projected to break the attendance record for any NAIA game ever. Entering the game, the Bisons of Lipscomb University and the Rebels of Belmont College were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the TCAC and No. 1 and No. 9 in the nation. That year, the Bison had already played Belmont four times, going 3-1 in those contests. The Bisons were also riding a 15-game winning streak going into the biggest Battle of the Boulevard game in the rivalry’s history. During that streak, Marcus Bodie broke the NAIA record for most steals in a season. Jerry Meyer also broke the Lipscomb record for steals in a season. The span also allowed Hutcheson to work his way up to the number two and three spots on the all-time-scoring list. Everyone was getting up for this game – sports writers, students, die hard fans, casual fans…everyone. Also present was Rick Byrd’s red sweater vest. (Yes, he wore it in 1990, too.) Leading up to the game, the Babbler staff talked to some of those reporters and...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 2, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
The 1980s and 90s were years to remember for the Bisons. The team won its first NAIA National Championship in 1986 behind performances from the likes of Greg Caudle, Anthony Jones and Tom Kelsey. In 1990, the team played in front an NAIA record of 15,400+ at Memorial Gym. The Bisons won that game, too, 124-107 against Belmont. During that time, Lipscomb players also broke records. Philip Hutcheson broke the college basketball scoring record with 4,106 points, which stood until another Bison broke his record four years later. John Pierce, the only fitting successor to Hutch, broke his record four years later with 4230 points. Also, Jerry Meyer held the college basketball record for assists in a career. His teammate Darren Henrie holds the Lipscomb University record for most blocked shots with 273 career blocked shots, holds the university record for blocked shots in a season with 87, the record for dunks with 141 during his career as a Bison and the record for dunks in a single season with 61 dunks. Not to be outdone, Marcus Bodie is the all-time steals leader in college basketball with 440 over his career. Bodie averaged three steals per game over 148 games. After watching Darren Henrie come within 10 three-pointers of college basketball’s all-time record, Andy McQueen set his sights on taking care of some unfinished business. McQueen was deadly from behind the three-point line, hitting 112 as a freshman, 143 as a sophomore, 124 as a junior, and 136 his final season. McQueen would finish with 515 career three-pointers to break college basketball’s all-time record of 467 held by Bill...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 1, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
In the inaugural show of “Herd That” (title pending review from you all) Hunter Patterson and Alexander McMeen discuss everything you need to know about one of the biggest rivalries in college sports. If you are going to argue that is not the biggest, it is definitely the closest. We break down the 1990 game at Memorial, this year’s games and a ton of history about the big game. Listen, give us some feedback, and...
by Hunter Patterson | Dec 9, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
Sophomore Robert Boyd (23) and junior Deonte Alexander (21) had career scoring highs for the Bisons in an 89-87 overtime loss to Tennessee Tech Saturday night at the Eblen Center in Cookeville. Lipscomb seemed to control the game after taking a 13-point first half lead and was up 38-30 at the break. Lipscomb shot 50 percent in the opening period but nearly half of Tennessee Tech’s points were off 12 Bison turnovers. Kevin Murphy, the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, and Jud Dillard started to swing the momentum in the Golden Eagle’s direction with several easy baskets throughout the opening part of the second half. Tennessee Tech went on an 18-6 run using five 3-pointers to take a 66-60 advantage with 7:33 to play. “I felt that one stretch in the second half we gave them some baskets in transition with no defense,” said head coach Scott Sanderson. “When we went zone, they stepped up and made some big shots.” Murphy finished with 29 points, all but five coming in the second half. Dillard had 22 points and made ten free throws. A pair of jumpers by Boyd brought Lipscomb to within one with 3:46 left. Tech would push the lead back to five points before the Bisons countered with triples by Alexander and Boyd to give Lipscomb the 74-73 lead with 1:25 to play. Two free throws and a layup would put Tennessee Tech back on top by three with under thirty seconds remaining. Boyd nailed a 3-pointer from the corner in front of Lipscomb’s bench with 14.8 seconds left to tie the game at 77...
by Josh Banker | Dec 3, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
For close to a decade, the Nashville Super Speedway has been a part of the many sporting event varieties offered to the residents of middle Tennessee and greater Nashville area. However, at the end of this year, the track out in Wilson County will close its doors for good. To some, this would seem a huge blow to the area but, unfortunately, this has been imminent for some time. Opening in 2001, the Nashville Super Speedway was intended to bring automotive racing back to Tennessee. The parent company, Dover Motorsports, took a risk in building the Nashville track, along with two others in Memphis and St. Louis. The intent was to bring NASCAR sanctioned races to the middle Tennessee area. The old race track at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds had a long history as a NASCAR track before it became outdated for that purpose. The Super Speedway did as intended, at least for awhile. It also drew the attention of the Indy Racing League for a few races though they have not been back since 2008. However, Dover Motorsports has announced that they will not seek NASCAR sanctioning for 2012. This essentially means that the track will be closing its doors, as NASCAR was the only series that ran professional races at Nashville Super Speedway. The future of the track and other uses for it is still geing sorted...
