Men's Basketball finishes road sweep of Bellarmine

Saturday, January 9

Louisville, KY

4:00 PM

Lipscomb University

8-6,3-1ASUN

Bellarmine

3-5,0-2ASUN

Team	1	2	F
Lipscomb	37	28	65
Bellarmine	29	29	58

Men's Basketball finishes road sweep of Bellarmine

1/9/2021 7:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kirk Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Lipscomb men's basketball team finished off the weekend sweep of Bellarmine after a wire-to-wire 65-58 victory Saturday at Freedom Hall.

The Bisons improved to 8-6 overall and 3-1 in the ASUN Conference, while the Knights dropped to 3-5 and 0-2.

Center Ahsan Asadullah powered the offense for Lipscomb with his third double-double of the season. The junior finished with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, while adding four assists and a block in 30 minutes.

You know the drill.... pic.twitter.com/AirfLmu1ht
— LipscombMBB (@LipscombMBB) January 10, 2021

HOW IT HAPPENED
Asadullah carried the load early, scoring 10 points in the first 10 minutes. The trio of Jake Wolfe, Greg Jones and KJ Johnson fed off the early onslaught and peppered the Knights with four 3-pointers to help Lipscomb build a 22-8 lead.

After ??2??? threes, @ahsanasadullah reels off 6 quick points to put us up 14-8. #HornsUp ?? pic.twitter.com/5KBjmykbAm
— LipscombMBB (@LipscombMBB) January 9, 2021

Miles Miller brought the energy off the bench and proved effective. In just seven minutes, he drew two charges on the defensive end and buried a pair of triples on the other.

Miles Miller nails the three-point as the shot clock expires. @LipscombMBB has a 12-point lead on Bellarmine. #ASUNMBB #HornsUp | @MilesJMiller1 ???? pic.twitter.com/37tRuTx1uA
— #ASUNMBB ?? (@ASUN_MBB) January 9, 2021

Seven Bisons scored in the first half, led by Asadullah's 10, to take a 37-29 advantage into the half. The team shot 50 percent from the floor and connected on 7-of-14 from deep.

After an early 8-2 Lipscomb run extended the lead to 14 to open the second half, the home-standing Knights battled back and trimmed the advantage to just 56-54 with 2:50 left to play after a 7-0 run of their own.

Much like he did the night before, Johnson came through when the Bisons needed him most. He halted the run with a bucket and then added four points from the free throw line. A two-possession game, Parker Hazen picked the Knights' pocket on the defensive end and sealed it on the other with a pair of makes at the stripe, where Lipscomb lived in the second half.

CLUTCH @Light_bright_3 pic.twitter.com/bH0FZZxxoe
— LipscombMBB (@LipscombMBB) January 9, 2021

After not attempting a free throw in the first 20 minutes, the purple and gold accumulated half of its points after the break, going 14-of-19 at the line.

FROM THE BENCH

"I thought the first 17-18 minutes of the first half was probably the best we've played all year on both ends." @coachacuff https://t.co/gfon2QGlDb
— LipscombMBB (@LipscombMBB) January 10, 2021

HERD NOTES

Behind 12 offensive rebounds, Lipscomb controlled the boards 34-29. Asadullah and Hazen combined for 11 of them.
Greg Jones and Hazen finished with eight points each. Jones added five rebounds and a pair of first-half triples, while Hazen reeled in nine boards and dished two assists.
Johnson was the only other Bison in double figures with Asadullah. He scored 14 points and went 4-of-4 at the stripe with two rebounds and three assists.
Romeao Ferguson chipped in with seven points, two rebounds, two assists and a team-high two steals.
Miller finished with six points and Wolfe totaled three.

UP NEXT
Lipscomb will get some time off with a bye week coming up in ASUN action. The Bisons will be on call, however, should any schedule changes need to be made related to COVID around the league. Their next conference contests are currently scheduled for Jan. 22-23 against FGCU in Nashville.