Final Score – Lipscomb: 64, UNC Asheville: 69
Location – Asheville, N.C. (Kimmell Arena)
Records – Lipscomb: 0-3, UNC Asheville: 1-2
THE SHORT STORY
Lipscomb Men's Basketball fell 69-64 on the road at UNC Asheville despite a career performance from senior
Grant Asman. He scored a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds on 7-for-11 from the field and 5-for-7 from deep.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNC Asheville got out to a quick 4-0 start, but
Mateo Esmeraldo got the first bucket of the night when
Grant Asman forced a turnover to setup the fastbreak points.
The Bisons struggled to get its offense going and trailed 8-2 at the first media timeout.
The Bulldogs continued to take advantage of poor shooting by the Bisons, opening up a 16-6 lead at the under-12 media timeout.
Despite being outshot by nearly 30-percent, the Bisons stayed close as UNC Asheville led 19-15 at the next break after
Kellan Boylan connected on an and-one opportunity.
Out of the timeout, Lipscomb cut the lead to a possession, 19-17, but could never get over the hump and continued to trail 23-20 at the final media timeout of the half.
Without much offense in the final minutes of the frame, Lipscomb trailed 29-25 at the halftime whistle.
The squads battled back and forth through the first four minutes of the second half and trailed 38-34 at the first break.
Out of the timeout, the Bisons tied things up at 38 with a pair of free throws from
Grant Asman and a nifty basket by
Mateo Esmeraldo.
Lipscomb took its first lead of the game, 40-39 when Asman connected on a dunk. The bucket marked Asman's 17
th point of the game, marking a new career high for the senior.
The teams traded buckets over the next possessions before a timeout at the 10:07 mark of the second with the matchup tied 44-44.
Asman continued to stay hot, leading the Lipscomb offense, scoring from all areas of the floor with a triple just before a timeout to edge the Bisons ahead 49-48.
The slugfest continued, and Lipscomb earned its largest lead of the night, 55-52, when
Mateo Esmeraldo found a cutting
Ethan Duncan on an inbound play for an easy bucket with just under five minutes to play.
TWEET ETHAN
The Bulldogs picked up a stifling full-court pressure to force a pair of Lipscomb turnovers on inbounds plays to make it a 61-55 Asheville advantage with just over three to play.
Lipscomb didn't back down, however, and went on a 7-0 run to retake a 62-61 advantage with 1:49 on the clock after
Charlie Williams connected on a pair from the charity stripe.
Ashville, however, regained a 64-62 advantage as the clock dwindled to under a minute to play. After a held ball, the Bulldogs inbounded the ball with seven on the shot clock and a two-point advantage. The Bisons defended well and forced a bad shot at the end of the clock to regain possession with 35 ticks of the clock.
After crossing the time line, Esmeraldo called a timeout to allow head coach Kevin Carroll to draw up a play, trailing by a pair.
Lipscomb, however, came up empty in the possession and was forced to foul Asheville on the rebound.
The Bisons were unable to overcome the deficit, ultimately falling 69-64 on the road.
HERD NOTES
- Asman led scoring with 22 points
- Esmeraldo was also in double figures with 12 points and added six assists
- Asman led the way with 11 rebounds
- The team shot 36.5-percent from the field and 22.6-percent from behind the arc
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will be at Allen Arena for its home opener as part of Bisons Weekend on Saturday, Nov. 15. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. CT.
