Final Score: Lipscomb - 74, North Florida - 65
Location: Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records: Lipscomb: (14-18, 6-10 ASUN), North Florida (11-20, 7-9 ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY: On a night where you must survive and advance, Lipscomb Men's Basketball used a big second half to defeat No. 4E North Florida 74-65 Tuesday night in the first round of the ASUN Championship in Allen Arena. With the victory, Lipscomb advances to the Quarterfinal round on Thursday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
As expected for a postseason matchup, both squads came out with high energy and traded buckets, but just before the first media timeout, North Florida took a 9-8 lead with a three pointer.
Over the next several minutes, UNF shot the ball well and jumped out to a 14-10 lead with 11:49 left in the first half. The Ospreys went on a 6-0 run out of the media timeout to extend its lead 22-14 forcing a Lipscomb timeout at the 9:47 mark.
Tommy Murr broke up the run connecting on a pair of free throws and
Will Pruitt drove the basket for a layup on the next trip down the floor to shave the North Florida lead 22-18.
After the Bisons next bucket, the team went cold for nearly three minutes, but
Parker Hazen put a stop to the drought with a no-doubt three-pointer from the left wing in front of the student section to make it a one-possesion ballgame.
After a defensive stop, Lipscomb continued to cut into the lead when All-ASUN First Teamer
Ahsan Asadullah finished at the rim to make it a 26-25 deficit.
Lipscomb used stifling defense to slow North Florida's blistering pace on the offensive end and was able to take the lead with 45 seconds left in the half when Hazen forced a turnover and ran down the floor for an uncontested dunk for a 31-30 lead.
The Ospreys tied things back up from the free throw line with 17 seconds left in the half. Lipscomb was unable to convert on the offensive end and the game was knotted up 31-31 after the first 20 minutes.
Trae Benham scored the first bucket of the second half when he elevated and drained a 3-pointer to put the Bisons ahead 34-31. North Florida responded with a triple on its end of the floor, but back-to-back layups from Asadullah and Pruitt gave Lipscomb a 38-34 lead. After a couple more defensive stops, Pruitt connected again and the Bisons went up 40-34 after a 6-0 run. The spurt continued when Hazen was fouled and converted both free throws for a 42-34 lead.
North Florida finally stopped the bleeding with a layup, but Asadullah finished through contact and converted an old fashioned three-point play to keep Lipscomb ahead by nine.
With just under 14 minutes to play,
KJ Johnson found a waiting
Kaleb Coleman who hit a big three to put the Bisons up double-digits, 48-38, for the first time of the night.
North Florida began to cut into the Lipscomb lead when it held the Bisons scoreless for nearly three minutes and shaved the lead 48-41 with 10:55 left in the second half, but the Bisons responded with four-straight points to jump back out to a 52-41 advantage with nine to go.
The squads traded buckets for the next several minutes, but North Florida slowly shaved Lipscomb's lead down to five with just over two minutes to go as the Bisons offense struggled to convert.
Asadullah put the purple and gold back out in front 67-60 with a layup at the end of the shot clock, but the Ospreys connected on its end of the floor and Lipscomb had a 67-62 lead with 1:41 left in the game as North Florida called a timeout.
Out of the break, Asadullah was fouled and connected on his two free throws followed by Benham forcing a turnover to give the ball back to the Bisons with 1:16 remaining.
In the double bonus, Lipscomb was clutch from the free throw line down the stretch and sealed the 74-65 victory to advance to the ASUN Championship Quarterfinal round.
HERD NOTES
- Asadullah led all scorers with 28 points. He secured his 12th double-double of the season with 12 rebounds.
- Hazen also had a big game, pouring in 17 points and adding seven rebounds.
- Pruitt also scored in double figures with 13 points.
- The Bisons outshot North Florida 44% to 40% from the floor.
- Tuesday's victory marked head coach Lennie Acuff's 600th career win.
FROM THE BENCH
UP NEXT
Lipscomb advances to the ASUN Championship Quarterfinal and will face the No. 1 seed in the east, Liberty, on Thursday, March 3 at 6 p.m. CT.
