Final Score – Lipscomb: 90, Austin Peay: 85
Location – Clarksville, Tenn. (F&M Bank Arena)
Records – Lipscomb: 18-11 (9-5, ASUN), Austin Peay: 15-14 (8-6, ASUN)
THE SHORT STORY
Despite a slow start to the game, Lipscomb Men's Basketball snapped Austin Peay's five-game winning streak with a 90-85 victory in Clarksville.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cody Head scored the first points of the night with a triple for the Bisons, but Lipscomb struggled to score early and Austin Peay took advantage with a 9-0 run, giving the Governors an early 9-3 lead.
Out of the media timeout, the Govs run continued as the Bisons found themselves in a 13-3 hole.
Joe Anderson and
Dylan Faulkner finally broke down the APSU defense and got Lipscomb back on the board after nearly five scoreless minutes as Faulkner flushed the ball home.
Lipscomb fought back and tightened the score 15-10, forcing an Austin Peay timeout.
The squads traded punches throughout the next minutes, but the Bisons further shaved the lead just before the under-eight media timeout, trailing by a bucket.
Out of the timeout,
Will Pruitt tied things up at 24 a piece with his first bucket of the night.
Austin Peay got back out to as much as a seven-point lead, but the Bisons didn't panic and battled back once again. Just before the half, the Bisons forced a turnover with 5.4 ticks on the clock and Pruitt went the length of the floor and laid the ball in as the Bisons trailed 37-36 at the half.
Out of the half, Lipscomb's defense forced a couple quick turnovers and Head gave Lipscomb the lead back with a driving layup. The lead was short lived as APSU answered with a triple.
Joe Anderson answered for the Bisons with a triple as the pace picked up and the lead exchanged hands several times.
At the first media timeout of the half, the squads were knotted up at 50 a piece.
Out of the timeout, Lipscomb got out to its largest lead of the night, 54-50 when Faulkner flushed home a lob from Anderson.
Lipscomb stayed ahead until the 8:29 mark of the second half when the Govs tied things up 62-62.
The squads continued to battle with each side making big shots to keep momentum from swinging one way or another. The Bisons held a slight 72-71 lead at the final media timeout with 3:53 left on the clock.
Lipscomb continued to be on the front foot, making a couple of big triples and held a slight 78-76 advantage with 2:30 left to play.
The Bisons continued on a 10-for-10 run from the field and McGinnis drained another triple for an 85-78 Lipscomb advantage with a shade over a minute left on the clock.
With under a minute to play, The Govs picked up the full court press and the Bisons handled it well, but a missed layup on the Lipscomb end which led to a triple for Austin Peay to cut the Lipscomb lead 85-83 with 41.0 to go.
Lipscomb had the ball with 14 seconds left and Pruitt drained a three-pointer at the end of the shot clock for an 88-83 lead and a new career-high 30 points.
Austin Peay scored with 2.1 seconds left, but the Bisons still led 88-85.
Cody Head was fouled with 1.2 left on the clock and made both for a 90-85 advantage. The clock ran out on the ensuing inbound and the Bisons came away with a 90-85 victory.
HERD NOTES
- Lipscomb's victory snapped a five-game winning streak for Austin Peay.
- With the win, Lipscomb now holds sole position of third place in the conference standings.
- Pruitt had a career-high 30 points and Head scored a career-high 21 points. McGinnis also contributed double-digits with 14.
- Lipscomb show 59-percent from the floor and 42-percent from deep.
UP NEXT
Lipscomb starts its final home stand of the ASUN season Wed. Feb. 28 as the Bisons host Bellarmine. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT.
