by Grant Ledgister | Feb 26, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Monday’s game began with a celebration of Lipscomb basketball seniors Matt Rose, Eli Pepper, Rob Marberry, Garrison Mathews and Nate Moran. The celebrations didn’t end until well after the Bisons left Allen Arena with an 81-77 victory over the NJIT Highlanders. Three-pointers were the name of the game for Lipscomb (22-6, 13-2 ASUN), as Mathews and Rose started the game with a trio of three-pointers to help the Bisons jump out to an 11-5 lead over the Highlanders (20-10, 8-7 ASUN) at the first media timeout. The threes then kept raining for the Bisons. Lipscomb never surrendered the lead in the first half and took a 39-28 lead into the break. Mathews made three shots from long range in the first 20 minutes and finished with six total three-pointers. “The past few games I’ve been shooting it [terribly],” Mathews said. “It’s kind of the time of the season where everybody’s tired, everybody’s sore. It’s tough. I just needed to get a little confidence back.” Lipscomb’s defense in the first half was also stellar. The Bisons forced five turnovers and held the ASUN’s third-leading scorer in Zach Cooks to three points. But NJIT made the game close in the second half. Even though the Highlanders got into foul trouble early in the half, they were able to close the gap to just one point with 10 minutes left. Soon after, the Bisons gave up the lead for the first time, and the game became a back-and-forth affair for several minutes. There were several moments when it looked like Lipscomb would open the game back up, including a sequence with a...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 29, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
If Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson is looking for a way to entertain his players on the way to Macon, Ga., he might want to screen the movie “Hoosiers”. The fictional Hickory High team, undersized and outmanned, won the Indiana State Championship in 1954. But it was more than movie magic. The Hickory team stood in for Milan High School which actually did win that championship in 1954, sparking the production of the movie. The Bison can certainly use the motivation. They enter the eight-team General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Tournament at the University Center on the campus of Mercer University as a No. 7 seed with an 8-10 conference record, 13-17 overall. Wednesday night at 7:30 central time they will face No. 2-seeded Mercer, the tournament host with a 13-5 A-Sun record, 21-01 overall. Video Broadcast: ESPN3 (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Sonny Smith, color analyst) Radio: WPRT 102.5 The Game (Jonathan Seamon, play-by-play; Justin Seamon, color analyst) “We have had to shuffle some guys around,” Sanderson said. “Different guys have had to play different roles the last several games. Hopefully, we can maximize our ability. “We are going to have to manage how we play both offensively and defensively. We have to manage playing time. How you play defensively is very, very important.” It is the lowest seed ever for the Bison in the A-Sun Tournament. They have been the No. 1 seed twice (2006, 2010), No. 4 three times (2007, 2009, 2011) and No. 5 twice (2005, 2008). “Tournament play is a lot different,” Sanderson said. “We go into this tournament a lot different than we have the last couple...
by Hunter Patterson | Feb 27, 2012 | News Slider, Sports
Bison basketball players Damarius Smith and Marvin Williams were not present at Monday’s practice just two days before the opening round of the Atlantic Sun tournament. Smith, a redshirt freshman, and Williams, also a freshman, did not participate in Monday’s practice and are not expected to join the team in Macon, Ga., for the Atlantic Sun tournament. A source close to the team says “it will be a very interesting 24 hours for the Lipscomb basketball team.” Lipscomb head coach Scott Sanderson said that it was mainly a “disciplinary issue” with Smith. Sanderson did not elaborate on Williams’ status but said he has missed the last four games because he has been “banged up” with a knee injury. This is not the first time Smith has been held out of playing. Earlier this season against Belmont, Smith dressed and warmed up with the team but did not enter the game. “It was just a discipline issue,” Sanderson said of Smith’s status in the Belmont game. “We handled it internally, and we moved forward.” “We’re just trying to learn and do what’s right,” he said. “Sometimes being young is difficult, and we are just trying to learn from day to day and do the right thing.” Smith averaged 5.2 points per game this season. The most notable points came when he hit the game-winning three in overtime versus Stetson on Jan. 16. Williams had an up-and-down year dealing with injuries and maturing as a player, but just over two weeks ago the Memphis, native scored a season-high 16 points in a 99-91 win over Stetson on Feb. 11. Smith and...
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...
