Final Score – Lipscomb: 64, Tennessee Tech: 63
Location – Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records – Lipscomb: 7-3, Tennessee Tech: 3-8
THE SHORT STORY
In a tightly-contested matchup,
Will Pruitt became Lipscomb's hero when he nailed the game-winner with 12.1 seconds left, lifting Lipscomb to a 64-63 victory over Tennessee Tech on Wednesday night in Allen Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither team was able to establish rhythm early, but the Bisons stayed just ahead of Tennessee Tech for the first several minutes of play. Lipscomb, however, went cold, making one of its next 10 shots to fall behind 15-14 with 8:52 left in the first half. The drought wouldn't last long as the Bisons made its next two for an 18-15 lead to force a Golden Eagles timeout.
Tennessee Tech, however, kept Lipscomb from growing its lead and tied things back up at 22 with just over three minutes left in the half. After trading points down the stretch, Lipscomb took a 26-25 lead into the halftime break.
Tennessee Tech out-scored Lipscomb 9-6 over the first three minutes of the second half for a 34-30 lead, but
Ahsan Asadullah helped close the gap when he converted a traditional three-point play to make the score 35-35 at the 16:29 mark of the second half.
The Golden Eagles used a 10-3 run to get out to a 38-44 lead before Asadullah scored his 19
th points of the night on the other end to get the game back in a pair of possessions.
Asadullah made a big block on the other end and
Matt Schner finished with a driving layup to quickly shave the lead back down to a pair, 44-42, with 12:44 left in the second frame.
Lipscomb continued strong play on both ends of the floor and a
Trae Benham triple gave Lipscomb its first lead, 51-49, since the opening minute of the second half. The three-point line stayed hot as the Golden Eagles nailed a three to regain the lead, but it was short lived as Pruitt nailed another long ball on Lipscomb's end.
Lipscomb was scoreless for the next two and a half minutes and Tennessee Tech had a 60-57 lead with 1:37 to play.
Derrin Boyd tied things up with just over a minute when he finished through contact and made the free throw, but the Golden Eagles made a triple on the other end to quickly retake a 63-60 lead.
On the offensive end, Boyd once again drove the basket and drew a foul. After converting both shots from the charity stripe, Lipscomb trailed by a point with 0:46 left in the game.
Lipscomb got the defensive stop it needed and had a chance to take the lead with 20 seconds left. However, a turnover with 18 seconds to go gave possession back to Tennessee Tech.
Things looked bleak for the Bisons, but strong defensive work on the inbound forced a bad Golden Eagles pass that Pruitt picked off. Pruitt put up a contested floater in the paint that caught nothing but net for a 64-63 lead with 12.1 seconds remaining.
TTU got off a pair of contested shots, but the Bisons defense held strong and Lipscomb came away with the 64-63 victory to snap a two-game losing skid.
HERD NOTES
- Lipscomb struggled from the floor, shooting just 38% while TTU shot 42% on the night.
- Lipscomb out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 48-35.
- Asadullah had a season high in points (21) and rebounds (15).
- Pruitt and Boyd also had double-digit outings with 10 and 12, respectively.
- The game saw seven ties and 10 lead changes.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will hit the road once again for a matchup at Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 17. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. CT.
