Final Score – Lipscomb: 69 – Liberty: 64
Location – Nashville, Tenn. (Allen Arena)
Records – Lipscomb, 15-10 (7-5, ASUN), Liberty: 19-6 (10-2, ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY
With the help of the three-ball and consistent free throw shooting, Lipscomb Men's Basketball defeated the ASUN-leading Liberty Flames Saturday, 69-64, afternoon in Allen Arena.
Derrin Boyd led the way for the Bisons with 22 points while
Will Pruitt and
Jacob Ognacevic also scored in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game got off to a disjointed start with neither team able to get into an offensive rhythm. Liberty took a 4-0 lead before
Matt Schner scored Lipscomb's first bucket of the night at the 16:58 mark.
A pair of free throws tied things at 4-4 shortly after before Lipscomb had its first lead with 15:20 to go after a
Derrin Boyd three pointer.
Lipscomb was scoreless for the next two minutes and Liberty pulled ahead, 9-7, at the first media timeout. Out of the break, Boyd connected with his second triple of the night to put the Bisons back ahead 10-9.
Out of the next media timeout, Lipscomb went cold, without a bucket for the next several minutes and Liberty took advantage, getting out to a 19-12 lead with under eight remaining in the half.
Ognacevic broke the drought with a much-needed three-pointer to keep the Bisons close and nailed another on his next trip down the floor to shave the Lipscomb lead 21-18.
With 5:43 left in the first half, Pruitt was fouled on a three point attempt and made all of the resulting free throws to tie the game at 21 all.
Pruitt continued to be a spark for the Bisons offensively and got off a shot in traffic to give Lipscomb back the lead 23-21 with five minutes to go in the first frame.
Lipscomb continued to heat up and extended its lead when Schner forced a turnover defensively and Boyd converted on the other end with a huge triple for a 26-21 lead.
The final minutes of the first half saw back-and-forth action as the teams would head to the halftime break tied at 30.
Liberty scored the first points of the second half, but Boyd picked up where he left off in the first half with a triple for the Bisons' first points of the half.
Boyd continued to take over and put Lipscomb back ahead by three, 40-37, with a five-point run of his own with just over 14 left to play.
The pace and physicality picked up on both ends of the floor. The three-ball continued to fall for the Bisons as Ognacevic nailed his third triple of the afternoon, giving Lipscomb a 46-44 advantage.
Liberty tied it back up by taking advantage of a dry spell from the Bisons, but Schner hit the Bisons' first bucket in over two minutes to retake the lead.
Liberty had some momentum when it shaved the Lipscomb lead to a point with a big triple on an inbound, but
Will Pruitt swung momentum back in Lipscomb's favor with a traditional three-point play.
The Bisons continued to fire with triples from Ognacevic and Boyd to open up an eight-point lead, but it was short lived as a pair of Liberty triples closed the gap. Lipscomb, however, still held a three-point, 65-62, lead at the final media timeout (2:26).
Liberty made a pair of free throws with 1:04 left to play to pull within a point of the Bisons. Neither team scored on the next two possessions and the Bisons had the ball with 27 seconds remaining.
With 19 seconds left, Pruitt was fouled and calmly drained both shots in the one-and-one situation to put Lipscomb ahead by three.
The Bisons defended the three-pointer well and
Grant Asman pulled down the rebound and got the ball to Pruitt. He was fouled again with six seconds left in the game and made the two shots from the charity stripe to seal Lipscomb's 69-64 victory.
FROM THE BENCH
HERD NOTES
- Lipscomb shot 42% from the floor and 46% from beyond the arc while Liberty shot 41% and 37%, respectively.
- Ognacevic and Schner both had seven rebounds to lead the squad.
- Boyd shot 5-of-6 from three-point range.
- The Bisons tied a season-high with 11 three-pointers as a squad.
- Lipscomb out-rebounded the Flames 34-33.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will hit the road for a two-game road swing starting at Central Arkansas on Thursday, Feb. 9. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. CT in Conway, Arkansas.
