Final Score – Lipscomb: 69, Bellarmine: 49
Location – Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records – Lipscomb: 12-8 (4-3, ASUN), Bellarmine: 9-11 (4-3, ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY
Lipscomb Men's Basketball charged to its fourth-straight win in ASUN play, defeating Bellarmine 69-49 at home, behind a season high 14 points from
Tommy Murr.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lipscomb started the afternoon's scoring with an early bucket from
Ahsan Asadullah for an early lead.
After the first media timeout, the Bisons started to heat up offensively, making five of its next seven shots to extend a 16-10 lead with 11:40 left in the first frame.
Out of the under-12 media timeout, the Knights went on a quick 5-0 run to shave the Lipscomb lead to a point before
Will Pruitt put a stop to the bleeding with a triple from the top of the arc.
Pruitt's buckets sparked an 11-0 Lipscomb run as the Bisons saw triples from Murr and
AJ McGinnis to go along with a
Grant Asman steal and dunk, giving Lipscomb a 27-15 lead. The run forced a Bellarmine timeout at the 7:52 mark.
Lipscomb's defense locked Bellarmine down for nearly three minutes and continued on an extended 19-4 run over more than seven minutes. The run gave Lipscomb a 35-19 lead with just under three minutes left in the frame.
The defensive intensity ramped up as neither team scored for the final two and a half minutes, but Lipscomb held onto a 35-22 lead at the break.
Bellarmine scored the first four points out of the break to get back within single digits, cutting the Lipscomb lead 35-26.
Lipscomb struggled to get on the board in the second half, but Ognacevic finally broke the seal with a triple at the 15:34 mark to put Lipscomb back ahead by double digits.
A 7-0 Bellarmine run once again closed in on the Lipscomb lead as the Bisons were ahead 38-32 with 12 minutes left in the second half.
Back-to-back triples from
Matt Schner and McGinnis got Lipscomb's offense going again and stretched the lead back out to double-digits, 46-36, with just under nine minutes to play.
The hot shooting from behind the arc continued as McGinnis connected on his third three-pointer of the night to extend the lead 49-36.
Lipscomb continued on an 11-0 run over more than four minutes to take its largest lead of the night, 54-36, with 5:30 left in the second.
Bellarmine forced a couple of quick Lipscomb turnovers and converted on the other end for a 6-0 run to force a Lipscomb timeout at the 3:31 mark, but the Bisons still held a 57-46 lead.
Out of the timeout, McGinnis scored the first points with his fourth triple of the night to give Lipscomb back the momentum. Bellarmine picked up a strong full court press, but the Bisons were able to handle it and get a couple quick baskets for a 62-46 advantage.
Lipscomb was solid down the stretch and closed out a 69-49 win its fourth-straight ASUN victory.
HERD NOTES
- Lipscomb shot 48% to Bellarmine's 34%.
- Murr Led Lipscomb with 14 points. Other double-digit scorers included McGinnis (12), Schner (12) and Ognacevic (11).
- Lipscomb won the rebounding battle 35-29.
- Pruitt led the way with eight rebounds while Schner had seven.
- 47 of Lipscomb's 69 points came from its bench players.
FROM THE BENCH
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will hit the road for its next ASUN weekend of action. The Bisons will be back in action Thursday, Jan. 26 at Jacksonville State. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT.
