Final Score: FGCU: 77, Lipscomb: 68
Location: Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records: Lipscomb: 10-15 (3-7 ASUN), FGCU: 15-9 (5-5 ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY: After storming out to a 14-point lead in the first half, Lipscomb was unable to hold on and dropped a 77-68 decision to FGCU in Allen Arena on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game started at a furious pace with both squads trading blows for the first four minutes. Heading into the first media timeout, Lipscomb held a slight 12-10 advantage, making three-straight baskets before the whistle including triples from
Trae Benham and
Greg Jones.
The blistering pace continued out of the break as Jones connected another deep three to give Lipscomb a 15-0 advantage. Over the next four minutes,
Ahsan Asadullah scored nine-straight points for Lipscomb to keep the Bisons at a 24-21 advantage with 11:09 left in the first half.
Lipscomb continued on an 11-2 run to extend its lead.
KJ Johnson drove the basket and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. Both Asadullah and
Jacob Ognacevic scored layups and
Tanner Shulman capped off the run with Lipscomb's fourth trey of the night for a 35-23 lead.
FGCU tightened it back up to a 10-point game by converting a pair of shots from the charity stripe, but Benham countered with back-to-back triples that pushed the Bisons back out to a 41-28 lead, its largest lead of the night, forcing an Eagles' timeout with 4:11 left in the first stanza.
The Bisons' defense held the Eagles without a score in the next two minutes and capitalized on the offensive end with a Parker Hazan dunk and Benham driving layup to take a 45-29 lead. FGCU got the final points of the half, but Lipscomb took a 45-31 lead into the halftime locker room.
Scoring at a high pace, Lipscomb finished the first half shooting 51 percent from the floor and 50 percent from deep, while holding FGCU to 42 percent and just 18 percent from behind the arc. The Bisons capitalized on 10 Eagles turnovers, scoring 11 points off those turnovers. Asadullah and Benham were both in double figures after the first 20 minutes with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Benham was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc and 4-for-5 from the floor.
Out of the break, Asadullah scored the first bucket for a 47-31 lead, but the momentum quickly swung in favor of the Eagles as they went on a 15-2 run to cut the Lipscomb lead 49-46 forcing a Lipscomb timeout with 14:47 in the second. During the stretch, Zach Anderson connected on three triples for FGCU.
The Eagles continued to chip away at the Lipscomb lead and eventually tied things up 49-49 with 14:00 left in the game.
Tommy Murr ended a 3:39 Lipscomb scoring drought with a driving layup to put the Bisons back ahead 51-49, but the lead was short lived as an FGCU triple on the other end of the floor gave FGCU a 52-51 lead, its first lead since the 17:40 mark of the first half when it led 7-4.
Asadullah and Kevin Samuel then traded points from the post. FGCU took a three-point, 56-53, lead after two foul shots to put the pressure on the Bisons. FGCU continued with all the momentum with another trey and a basket off a Lipscomb turnover to balloon its lead 61-53 with 10:25 remaining to force another Lipscomb timeout.
The Bisons continued to struggle as FGCU continued to shut down the Lipscomb offense, holding the Bisons without a score in five minutes, missing eight-straight buckets. FGCU's offense never slowed during the run as they made 12-of-20 over 10 minutes to run out to a 67-53 lead with 7:52 remaining.
After another FGCU bucket, Jones finally broke a 5:30 Lipscomb scoring drought with back-to-back three-pointers to pull Lipscomb back within 10. The Bisons were able to pull within seven points with 22 seconds left, but it wasn't enough as FGCU converted its free throws down the stretch and took home a 68-77 victory.
HERD NOTES
· After shooting an impressive 51 percent from the floor, the Bisons scored at just a 23 percent clip in the second half.
· Asadullah led Lipscomb with 18 points and nine rebounds.
· Benham finished with 15 points while Jones contributed 14.
·
Will Pruitt tied for the team lead with nine rebounds and added seven points.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb hits the road for a matchup at Liberty Tuesday, Feb. 8. Tipoff at Liberty Arena is slated for 6 p.m. CT.
