NASHVILLE –  In a tale of two halves, the Lipscomb men’s basketball team got things rolling after halftime to pick up a 96-72 victory over crosstown foe Trevecca Sunday afternoon in Allen Arena.

The win improves the Bisons to 4-6 on the year, while the Trojans fall to 1-9.

Birthday boy Ahsan Asadullah led the way for the Bisons with another masterful performance. The sophomore center scored 21 points, dished a career-high eight assists, and pulled down six rebounds after going 10-of-15 from the field.

He was matched in points by the freshman KJ Johnson, who scored 17 of his 21 in the second half. They were joined in double figures by Michael Buckland (15) and Greg Jones (15) as 10 different Bisons got in the scoring column.

Despite shooting 50 percent from the floor in the first half, Lipscomb had a hard time pulling away from the Trojans. The Bisons biggest lead in the half was six points with just under 10 minutes on the clock.

Behind Austin Wills’ 5-of-7 shooting from deep, Trevecca knocked down 10 triples in the first 20 minutes to stay in the game. Wills’ fifth make came just before the buzzer to give the Trojans a 46-44 lead at the break.

The story of the second half was the Bisons defense and their dominance in the paint. Lipscomb limited Trevecca to a 35.7 percent shooting clip and forced 11 turnovers after half, while owning the points in the paint 30-12.

Following a three-pointer from Greg Jones to put the Bisons up nine with 12 minutes to play, Johnson quickly extended the lead to 80-64 after scoring 10 consecutive points for the purple and gold.

A 12-0 run gave Lipscomb its largest lead of the day at 89-64 following a layup from Asadullah with 6:52 remaining.  

The Bisons doubled up the Trojans in the second half, 52-26, to secure their first home win since the season-opening victory over Rhodes on November 5.

HERD NOTES

• Lipscomb shot 59.7 percent (37-of-62) from the field, 45 percent (9-of-20) from long range, and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the charity stripe.
• Asadullah’s 21 points were a season high for the Atlanta product, and the second-highest total of his career. His eight assists matches Johnson’s total from Tennessee Tech for the highest of the season for any Bison.
• The 21 points from Johnson marks his third 20-point game of the season and they have all come in the last four outings.
• Kaleb Coleman recorded the best game of his career with six points and six rebounds.
• Andrew Fleming added six points, while Caron Cary chipped in five.
• The Bisons outrebounded the Trojans 37-24 and collected 10 offensive boards.
• Lipscomb controlled the paint 52-20 and outscored Trevecca’s bench 30-16.
• The Bisons dished 18 assists and coughed the ball over just 12 times.

UP NEXT

The Bisons get their longest stretch of the season without a game to gear up for final exams. They are back on the court in nine days on Dec. 17 when Tennessee Tech visits Allen Arena for the team’s final home game of the calendar year.

Lipscomb’s next game at home will be Jan. 9 against Kennesaw State.