Ognacevic's 23 not enough for Bisons against experienced Chattanooga squad

Sunday, December 5

Allen Arena

4:00 PM

Lipscomb University

5-4,0-0ASUN

Chattanooga

7-1,0-0SoCon

Team	1	2	F
Chattanooga	38	47	85
Lipscomb	18	46	64

Ognacevic's 23 not enough for Bisons against experienced Chattanooga squad

12/5/2021 8:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Kirk Downs

NASHVILLE – Lipscomb men's basketball returned home Sunday afternoon and dropped an 85-64 in-state decision with Chattanooga inside Allen Arena.

The Bisons (5-4) rallied back from 20 points down early in the second half to cut their deficit to four, but with seven 3-pointers over the final 13 minutes from the Mocs (7-1), it was too much to overcome for the purple and gold.

For the fourth-consecutive game, Jacob Ognacevic led Lipscomb in scoring with 23 points. The Sheboygan, Wisconsin native went 9-of-14 from the floor and shot 5-for-5 at the stripe.

Greg Jones was the only other Bison in double-figures with 12 points after a career best 7-for-7 night at the free throw line.

FIRST HALF

Chattanooga jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first five minutes behind the experienced one-two punch of Malachi Smith and David Jean-Baptiste.
Jones then converted an and-one while JO buried a jumper at 11:28 to make it a two-point game.
After another jumper from Ognacevic cut UTC's lead to 15-12, the Mocs reeled off a 13-0 run to take their advantage to 16 with just under six minutes to play.
A.J. Caldwell connected on Chattanooga's fifth triple before a free throw from Silvio Desousa pushed the Mocs lead to 38-18 entering the break.
Ognacevic scored a team high eight points, while Jones added three.
The Bisons shot just 28 percent (7-25) from the floor and failed to hit a three-pointer (0-8).
UTC shot 48.3 percent (14-29) overall and shot 5-of-12 from long distance.

?? @p_hazen ?? pic.twitter.com/3SpgcSLOFS
— Lipscomb Men's Basketball (@LipscombMBB) December 5, 2021

SECOND HALF

Lipscomb came out and put up a strong defensive effort to begin the second half, allowing the Bisons a chance to get back into the game.
After a pair of free throws from Jones, Ognacevic scored seven consecutive points and Lipscomb used a 13-0 run of its own to pull the Bisons back to within 42-36 at the 14:12 mark.
Less than a minute later, Will Pruitt buried a triple from the corner following an offensive board from Ognacevic to make it a four-point game (44-40) at 13:07.
Over the next couple of minutes, the two sides traded buckets as the score fluctuated from six to nine points.
The Mocs got hot from long range and quickly pushed their advantage back out to 15, putting the game away.
Chattanooga used runs of 11-3, 8-2 and 10-4 over the last 10 minutes and the Bisons could never get any closer than 11 points.
Ognacevic scored a team-high 15 points in the final 20 minutes on 5-7 shooting and grabbed four boards.
Jones and Pruitt each added nine points in the half, while KJ Johnson chipped in six.
The Bisons shot 50 percent from the field (12-24), 81.8 percent from the line (18-22) and 44.4 percent from deep (4-9).
Parker Hazen blocked three shots in the second half.
Seven of the 18 field goals made in the second half by UTC were from long distance.
Jean-Baptiste scored 18 points on 5-of-6 from three, while Smith added 13 on 6-of-10 overall.

HERE COME THE HERD?? ??

A 9-0 run pulls us to within 42-32 with 15:02 to play. #HornsUp?? pic.twitter.com/Vxsdwv93Rk
— Lipscomb Men's Basketball (@LipscombMBB) December 5, 2021

KJ to the rack and Willy P from deep! ??

Bisons cut it to 44-40 ??#HornsUp?? pic.twitter.com/lKlz99mh6A
— Lipscomb Men's Basketball (@LipscombMBB) December 5, 2021

NOTES

Lipscomb shot a season low 38.8 percent from the floor.
The team's 19 field goal makes and four three-pointers were also the fewest of the season.
Pruitt finished with nine points, while Johnson added eight.
Hazen grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and blocked a career high four shots.
With 22 free throw makes, it marks five times the Bisons have connected on 20+ at the stripe.
The five blocks were a season high for the Bisons.
The 10 turnovers were the second-fewest of the season.
Lipscomb has allowed 19 three-pointers over the last two games, and four times now an opponent has connected on 10+ from long range in a game.

FROM THE BENCH

??? "We're gonna go back to work, there's no quit in any of these guys. I believe in everybody in that locker room, ever player and coach. We have the right guys." - @coachacuff #HornsUp??https://t.co/dcasgtEMe1
— Lipscomb Men's Basketball (@LipscombMBB) December 6, 2021

UP NEXT
Lipscomb heads to South Beach for a midweek matchup with Miami on Wednesday. The Bisons and Hurricanes tip at 6 p.m. CT.