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benham 3
75
Winner Lipscomb Lips 12-17,5-9 ASUN
72
North Ala. UNA 9-18,2-12 ASUN
Winner
Lipscomb Lips
12-17,5-9 ASUN
75
Final
72
North Ala. UNA
9-18,2-12 ASUN
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Lipscomb Lips 23 52 75
North Ala. UNA 40 32 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Bisons overcome 19-point 2nd-half hole behind Benham's career high 22


FLORENCE, Ala. – Trae Benham scored 20 of his career-high 22 points after halftime to help rally Lipscomb from a 19-point second-half deficit to beat North Alabama 75-72 on the road Saturday in crucial ASUN Conference action.

The freshman Benham made four 3-pointers, pulled down five rebounds and shot 7-of-11 from the floor. Ahsan Asadullah had another monster double-double with a team-high 23 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks, while Parker Hazen added 12 points and six boards.

Freshman Daniel Ortiz scored 27 points to lead the Lions (9-18, 2-12), who have now lost six straight.

After an abysmal first half from the Bisons that saw them shoot 31 percent from the floor and go 1-of-12 from long distance, UNA entered the halftime break with a 40-23 lead. It was just a 4-point game with 4:45 to play in the first half, but Lipscomb went just 2-of-12 from the field down the stretch while North Alabama connected on their final six attempts to spark a 17-4 Lion run into the break.

Considering how second halves have gone for the Bisons in conference play this season, the game almost felt out of reach when UNA's Will Soucie made a layup to put the home team up 19 points (42-23) with 18:26 on the clock.

But that isn't who the Bisons are. They don't run from the storm, they run into it.

Asadullah, a 29.1 percent three-pointer shooter entering the game, lit a fire under the purple and gold when he drained his second triple of the day for Lipscomb's first points of the second half. He had the only two threes of the day for the Bisons at that point.
 

Asadullah followed that bucket up with a defensive rebound on the other end of the floor and a layup on the other end. His play would spark a 13-2 Lipscomb run that got capped with back-to-back 3-point bombs from Benham to bring them within eight at 44-36 with 14:18 to play.
 

After UNA pushed its advantage back to 16 with a 13-5 run of its own, Asadullah and Benham went back to work. The former took a Lion turnover and made them pay with a jumper on the other end before Benham reeled off 8-straight points with another set of back-to-back triples to bring the Bisons within 59-51 at the 7:21 mark.
 
Benham put the team on his back for a span of 7:32 and kept them in the game with 17 of the team's 21 points in that stretch.

Lipscomb worked hard and was able to tie the game up at 64 with 4:47 to play when KJ Johnson got an acrobat layup to fall and Will Pruitt drilled a three from the corner off a cross-court pass from Asadullah.  They mounted a 13-3 run with seven of those points coming at the free throw line.
 

Johnson scored again a couple minutes later from the paint to give Lipscomb its first lead, 66-65, since the 15:24 mark of the first half.
 
The lead seesawed over the next two possessions before Asadullah grabbed an offensive rebound and put the ball back through the net to lift the Bisons back in front, 68-67, with 1:57 on the clock.

UNA converted a 3-point play and then knocked down a pair of free throws with 44 seconds to play to tie it back up at 72, but Hazen was able to draw another foul and then convert on both free throw attempts to give the Bisons the final lead of the game.

Lipscomb played strong defense on the final possession and kept UNA from hitting a shot to seal the road win.
 

GAME NOTES
  • Lipscomb shot 46 percent for the game (25-54) after knocking down 16-of-25 field goals in the second half (64%), including 9 of their last 10.
  • The Bisons outrebounded the Lions 41-39 and outscored them in the paint, 34-32.
  • The Bisons dished 14 assists on 25 makes, half of which came from Asadullah.
  • Pruitt added seven points, five rebounds and three assists.
  • Hazen led the team with an 8-for-9 day at the free throw line.
  • As a team, Lipscomb hit 18-of-24 free throws. In the first meeting with UNA they made 18-of-23.
  • Lipscomb held UNA to just 35.7 percent shooting, its fourth-lowest mark of the season.
  • The Bisons improve to 10-2 this season when holding opponents to 75 points or less.
  • Asadullah recorded his 26th career game with 20 points, his 33rd game with 10+ rebounds and 28th game with 5+ assists.
  • Asadullah also pulled down his 11th double-double of the season (31st career), just one shy of the ASUN lead.
 

UP NEXT
Lipscomb returns to action Wednesday for its final road game of the regular season when the Bisons travel to Louisville, Kentucky to take on Bellarmine at 6 p.m. CT in Freedom Hall.

 
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