Final Score - Lipscomb: 72, Chattanooga: 66
Location - Chattanooga, Tenn. (McKenzie Arena)
Records – Lipscomb 3-2, Chattanooga 2-3
THE SHORT STORY
In a game full of ties and lead changes, Lipscomb Men's Basketball came out on the winning end, 72-66, at Chattanooga Wednesday evening at McKenzie Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chattanooga took the early lead with a triple on its first possession and the Lipscomb offense struggled to get going, but the defense was strong through the first five minutes of action to keep things close as the Mocs had an 8-4 lead at the first media timeout.
Out of the break,
Trae Benham got Lipscomb's first triple of the day to fall, cutting the Chattanooga lead 8-7.
The Bisons then took its first lead of the day when
AJ McGinnis came off the bench and nailed a three-pointer for a 10-8 lead.
The Mocs got back out to a 15-10 lead, but the Bisons scored eight unanswered, including two more triples, to get back an 18-15 lead with 8:46 left in the first half.
Neither team scored for the next minute and a half, but
Jacob Ognacevic made a pair of free throws with 7:00 left in the half to extend Lipscomb's lead 20-15.
The Bisons went cold on the offensive end and a 9-3 Mocs run saw it regain the lead 24-23 with 2:24 left in the first as Lipscomb would call a timeout.
After several scoreless possessions for the Bisons, Asadullah got Lipscomb's first points in four minutes with his first three-pointer of the season to put Lipscomb back ahead 26-24.
After
Matt Schner made a free throw with 23 seconds left, the Bisons got another defensive stop and would head to the locker room with a 27-24 lead.
Lipscomb scored four unanswered out of the halftime locker room for a seven-point, 31-24, lead, its largest of the night with 17 minutes left in regulation.
Chattanooga, however, punched back with three triples in as many possessions to quickly tie the game back up at 33.
The Mocs had a three-point lead with 12:30 to go in the second half, but Ognacevic tied things back up with a huge triple for a 43-43 ballgame.
The pace picked up from both teams as Chattanooga went on a 5-0 run to open things up 48-43, but the Bisons hung in and Ognacevic converted on back-to-back possessions to get Lipscomb back within a point, 50-49.
Ognacevic continued to take over for Lipscomb and converted an and-one opportunity after a Lipscomb defensive stop to give Lipscomb back the lead 52-50 with nine minutes left in the contest.
The Mocs seemed to pick up some momentum with a four-point lead at the 4:28 mark of the second half, but Lipscomb went on a 6-0 run to retake a 62-60 lead with 2:45 left in the second half.
After another huge defensive stop, McGinnes pulled up for a jumper with one minute remaining and got nothing but net to put Lipscomb ahead 64-62.
Asadullah was a brick wall on the defensive end of the floor and forced a tough Mocs shot and collected the rebound. His outlet pass to Ognacevic resulted in a dunk on the other end for a 66-62 lead with 39 seconds left on the clock.
With clutch free throw shooting down the stretch, Lipscomb closed out a 70-66 victory over Chattanooga on the road for a big non-conference road win.
HERD NOTES
- Ognacevic's 21 points are a season high.
- Pruitt led the way with eight rebounds on the night.
- Lipscomb out-shot Chattanooga 44.8%-37.1%.
- The Bisons shot 86.7% from the charity stripe.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will be in action after the Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday, Nov. 30 against Navy. Tipoff in Allen Arena is set for 11 a.m. CT.
