Despite a strong start, the Lipscomb Bisons men’s basketball team couldn’t claim the season’s second ‘Battle of the Boulevard’ title, losing a 100-66 contest with the Belmont Bruins at the Curb Event Center.
Belmont had the series’ first win in November at Allen Arena in the Bisons’ season opener.
Lipscomb kept early momentum away from the Bruins, who suffered from poor shooting early on. Once Belmont began to hit crucial shots, the Bruins caught the lead and began to build on it. The Bisons kept the margin at a manageable distance until the middle of the second half.
Junior Khion Sankey put up 15 for the Bisons, with sophomore Martin Smith not too far behind with 13. Freshman Stephen Hurt had 11, and all three Bisons had five rebounds a piece for the game.
Sankey said he feels that tonight’s missteps must be improved upon for this weekend’s match-up against UT Martin.
“We’ve just got to play aggressive,” Sankey said. “We’ve got to come out strong. We’ve got to play for 40 minutes.”
Looking ahead, the Bisons return to Allen Arena on Saturday to play the 3-5 UT Martin Skyhawks, following that up with a trip up to Lexington, Ky., to take on the now-unranked 5-3 Kentucky Wildcats on Dec. 15.
Sankey said he’s confident that the team will successfully move on from tonight’s loss.
“We’re going to get better from this.”