NASHVILLE – A tough shooting night for the Lipscomb men’s basketball team, along with timely buckets down the stretch from Stetson, led to a 55-53 defeat Saturday evening in ASUN Conference play at Allen Arena.

The Bisons dropped to 8-14 overall and 3-6 in league play, while the Hatters improved to 12-12 and 6-3 to remain one game back of ASUN leaders Liberty and North Florida in the conference standings.  

“Stetson did a nice job tonight, but we just had a hard time scoring,” head coach Lennie Acuff said. “They are a good team that is big and physical and they are very well coached. They had a number of buckets that came in the final seconds of the shot clock.

“But I don’t care what you do, it’s a hard hard game when the ball doesn’t go in and they didn’t tonight for us.”

Lipscomb was unable to get its offense moving consistently as it finished 18-of-47 for a 38.3 percent clip from the field and 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) from behind the arc. Stetson, who led for nearly 26 minutes, was consistent in both halves, shooting 22-of-48 overall for a 45.8 percent mark.

A slow start saw the Bisons fall behind 6-0 before back-to-back threes from senior guard Andrew Fleming pulled the game even. After a couple of minutes with no score from either side, the Hatters regained the advantage on a layup from Jahlil Rawley.

The teams went back and forth the rest of the half with the score never stretching beyond a two-possession game. Junior Parker Hazen slammed home a putback dunk with 43 seconds on the clock to send Lipscomb to the locker room down just 26-25.

The second half saw the purple and gold sprint out of the break on a 6-0 run to turn its deficit into their largest lead of the game at 31-26. Stetson responded with a run of its own, scoring the next 11 points to put Lipscomb in a six-point hole, 37-31. The Hatters stretched their lead to eight with just 1:53 remaining with a short jumper from Wheza Panzo, but the Bisons continued to battle.

Greg Jones and Miles Miller scored the next five points to cut it to three, but once again Panzo responded with a three-point play. After three free throws from Jones and a desperation three from Miller pulled Lipscomb to within 55-53, giving the home team a chance with four seconds on the clock.

Stetson’s Rob Perry was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and went to the line for a 1-and-1. The freshman, who finished with a game-high 18 points, missed the attempt and Michael Buckland grabbed the rebound. With no timeouts and three seconds left to play, the senior guard raced up the left side of the floor before pulling up for a potential game-winner, but Perry redeemed himself by swiping the ball away from Buckland as the buzzer sounded.

Sophomore Ahsan Asadullah led Lipscomb with 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds on 6-of-13 shooting. Jones and Fleming each added 10 points.

Perry was joined in double figures by Rawley (11), Panzo (10) and Christiaan Jones (10) for the Hatters.

HERD NOTES

• The win for Stetson was the first in Allen Arena since the semifinals of the 2016 ASUN Tournament.
• Lipscomb’s 53 points are the fewest its scored at home this season and the second-fewest overall (36 at Duquesne).
• Asadullah recorded his eighth double-double of the season, and the third in a row. He’s averaging 19.3 points and 14 rebounds and six assists per game over the last three games.
• Lipscomb won the rebounding battle 35-23, including 12-5 on the offensive end.
• Stetson, however, controlled points in the paint 26-20.
• The Bisons were credited with nine assists and 15 turnovers, while the Hatters recorded six helpers and only seven miscues – their fewest of the season against a Division I opponent.
• Stetson scored 14 points off Lipscomb’s turnovers.
• After back-to-back 20-point efforts entering Saturday, Buckland scored just three points on 1-of-5 shooting. It was his lowest scoring output since also scoring three against the Hatters in the ASUN opener on Jan. 2.
• Carson Cary scored six of the team’s 10 bench points with a pair of triples. It was his first points since Jan. 16 at NJIT, and his first three-pointer since Jan. 4 at FGCU.
• Miles Miller earned his fifth start of the season, and the first since Nov. 30 at Xavier. 

UP NEXT

Lipscomb hits the road this next week for a pair of ASUN contests. The Bisons will visit North Alabama at 6 p.m. Thursday before traveling to Kennesaw State on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tip.