by Russell Vannozzi | Apr 3, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
NEW YORK CITY – Things looked bleak for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team with 3:46 left in Tuesday’s NIT semifinal game at Madison Square Garden. Wichita State appeared to be in control, but the Bisons had a final surprise for the Shockers. Powered by senior leader Garrison Mathews, Lipscomb closed the game on a 14-0 run to steal a 71-64 victory and advance to the NIT title game. The Bisons will battle Texas for the championship Thursday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN and on Lumination Radio. “It says a lot about our program and the current state of it,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “We’ve got some guys with three straight 20-win seasons and an NCAA Tournament last year, and three road wins in the NIT before we came here, so they have accomplished a lot.” Mathews led all scorers with 34 points, but he had to earn every bucket. The Shockers’ defense paid close attention to him and tried to deny the ASUN Player of the Year on the perimeter. But the Franklin native still managed to make five of his fifteen three-point attempts and 11 of his 12 free throws. He scored Lipscomb’s final seven points, including a go-ahead three with 1:10 remaining. “I went cold there for a little while, so it was good to finally knock one down for my team and help them kind of get over the hump,” he said. Rob Marberry also had 14 points for Lipscomb, and senior forward Eli Pepper surpassed 1,000 career rebounds by pulling down 15 boards. Lipscomb led 35-30 at halftime, but the Shockers responded with a...
by Russell Vannozzi | Mar 10, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The scenarios for Sunday’s ASUN championship game are simple: winner goes to the NCAA tournament, loser goes to the NIT. It’s the rubber match for No. 1 Lipscomb and No. 2 Liberty, and this time, the teams will battle on a national stage. The game will be televised by ESPN, and a sellout crowd is expected in Allen Arena. “I would almost say it’ll be a similar feeling to when we went to March Madness last year, but it’ll be on our home floor,” Lipscomb senior Garrison Mathews said. “It’s going to be crazy to play in front of that many fans that are going for [us].” Lipscomb (25-6) knocked off Kennesaw State and NJIT to reach its second-straight title game. The Bisons beat Florida Gulf Coast 108-96 to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. Meanwhile, Liberty (27-6) beat Jacksonville and North Florida to earn a trip to Nashville and a chance for a title in its first season as a member of the ASUN. On Jan. 29, Lipscomb crushed Liberty on its home-court, 77-55. The Flames then returned the favor by handing the Bisons a 74-66 loss two weeks later. The two teams play different styles, but something must give this time. “The styles were what was so different,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “The first game better reflected how we like to play, the second one better reflected how they like to play. It’s not always that simple, but that will go a long way toward who wins this game.” BREAKING DOWN THE FLAMES: Liberty had a clear path to the...
by Russell Vannozzi | Feb 26, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb basketball honored one of its best senior classes in program history Monday night. That’s no disrespect to Marcus Bodie, Darren Henrie, Phillip Hutcheson and Wade Tomlinson from 1990 or Mark Campbell, Andy McQueen and John Pierce from 1994 or Adnan Hodzic and Josh Slater from 2011. This year’s group stacks up against Lipscomb’s best, and it might be the best. “It’s a different era, for sure,” senior guard Garrison Mathews said. “I don’t know what it would have been like playing back then. We’ve been fortunate to come out and win some games.” Make that 77 wins over the last four seasons, to be exact. The Bisons are in the midst of their third straight 20-win season. “I think it’ll be one that people remember for a while,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said of the class. “The individual and collective accomplishments of [this group] are pretty impressive.” But this column isn’t meant to spark a debate – I’ll leave that for another day. The 2019 senior class put Lipscomb basketball back on the national map, and for that, they are worth appreciating and celebrating on their own, especially given the NAIA-NCAA discrepancy. The group of five seniors includes three 1,000-point scorers (Mathews, Rob Marberry, Nathan Moran) and two that came close (Eli Pepper and Matt Rose). More importantly, these five were instrumental in Lipscomb’s rise over the last three seasons, highlighted by an ASUN title and the team’s subsequent NCAA tournament debut against North Carolina in 2018. “If you really want to gauge what those guys have done, that’s where you have to look,” Alexander said of the...
by Russell Vannozzi | Feb 21, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball team had bad memories from the last time Lipscomb visited Alico Arena, and the Eagles got their revenge Wednesday night. FGCU knocked off the Bisons with a stunning, 67-61 victory. It was Lipscomb’s first visit to Fort Myers since its 108-96 victory in last year’s ASUN title game. The Bisons (21-6, 12-2 ASUN) have now dropped two of their last three contests, but the latest loss is the most damaging to their postseason hopes. Previously, Lipscomb’s worst loss was to Belmont (NET: 58), but FGCU entered the night ranked much lower at No. 244. Poor shooting led to Lipscomb’s worst offensive night The Bisons shot just 29 percent (20-of-68) from the field in their worst offensive showing of the season. The dismal performance came exactly one week after the team shot 36 percent and scored just 66 points in a home loss to Liberty (23-5, 12-1 ASUN) on Feb. 13. Lipscomb never fully settled into its offense and missed numerous shots around the basket. Senior forward Rob Marberry was held to eight points – well under his season average of 14.9. Eagle defense was stifling Of course, the FGCU defense had something to do with Lipscomb’s poor performance. The Eagles took advantage of light officiating in the paint and finished with 10 blocks. FGCU forward Brian Thomas was responsible for six of those blocked shots. The 6-foot-9 big man also pulled down seven rebounds, while Zach Scott had eight boards. Lipscomb shot itself in the foot by committing 11 turnovers, which led to nine FGCU points. FGCU’s Mercurius came...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 25, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball team has undergone significant personnel changes since dropping a 108-96 contest to Lipscomb in the ASUN title game last March. But the result was the same Thursday night. Lipscomb (15-4, 6-0 ASUN) used 13 three-pointers to pull away from the Eagles for an 89-81 victory at Allen Arena. “It was nice to find a way [to win],” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “I give FGCU a lot of credit – they played tough. But we had some experienced guys make some experienced plays, and that turned out to be the difference.” Senior guard Garrison Mathews went for 31 points, and he hit six of Lipscomb’s 13 threes. Matt Rose added a trio of three-pointers, while Nathan Moran and Michael Buckland each had two apiece. Mathews’ outing was his best since scoring 29 points at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 1. “[Garrison] wanted the ball and he delivered,” Alexander said. “He got to the line, he made tough twos, he made big threes. It was a complete game for him.” Mathews and Moran hit back-to-back threes with just 1:23 remaining to take an 81-73 lead and prevent any hope of an FGCU comeback. “All of us were knocking down shots tonight,” Mathews said. “Nate hit that big-time three at the end that really kind of sealed the deal. I was just fortunate to knock some down.” The offseason was not kind to the Eagles (7-14, 2-4 ASUN). Coach Joe Dooley left for East Carolina, reigning ASUN Player of the Year Brandon Goodwin graduated and went to the NBA and Zach Johnson transferred to Miami, leaving...
