Final Score – Lipscomb: 73, No. 3 Duke: 97
Location – Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor Stadium)
Records – Lipscomb: 6-5, No. 3 Duke: 11-0
THE SHORT STORY
Lipscomb Men's Basketball fell 97-73 on Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium to No. 3 Duke despite turning the Blue Devils over a season-high 22 times.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Duke won the tip and got out to a quick 10-0 start.
Or Ashkenazi got Lipscomb on the board when he picked the pocket of a Blue Devil and converted an open layup for the Bisons' first bucket of the night.
Lipscomb's defense forced a couple of early Duke turnovers, and the Bisons converted on a pair of those turnovers for their first four points of the game.
Out of the first media timeout,
Grant Asman converted on a triple from the wing, cutting the Duke lead 10-7 and holding the Blue Devils to an over two-minute scoring drought.
Ross Candelino got the ball after another forced turnover and nailed a triple, tying the game 10-10 with 14:56 to play in the first half.
Duke got back on the board, but Lipscomb scored the next two baskets, for a 14-12 advantage.
The Bisons' stifling defense continued to get the Blue Devils out of sorts, forcing the ninth turnover of the game for Duke just before the under-12 media timeout, where Lipscomb led 18-16.
Out of the under-12 media timeout, the Bisons scored eight straight, extending a 12-2 run to force a Duke timeout with a 26-16 advantage.
Duke came roaring back out of the timeout with six-straight points, cutting the Lipscomb lead 26-22 before the Bisons called a timeout.
Lipscomb, however, didn't let the Blue Devils go on a big run and stayed out ahead 31-24 at the under-eight media timeout of the first frame.
The back-and-forth affair continued to the final media timeout of the half, and Lipscomb clung to a 39-36 advantage at the break with a one-and-one opportunity coming up.
Lipscomb continued to hang onto a 45-43 lead with a minute left in the half, but was unable to score at the end of the shot clock. Duke earned a pair of free throws on the other end to tie the game at 45 each with 42 seconds in the half.
Duke scored three quick points in the final seconds of the half as Lipscomb trailed 48-45 at the break.
The Bisons turned over the Blue Devils 16 times in the first 20 minutes, which was well over a season-high for turnovers allowed by Duke. The Bisons scored 21 points off those turnovers. Lipscomb's 45 points were also the most any opponent had scored on Duke in a half, three more points than Florida's 42 in its second half on Dec. 2.
Mateo Esmeraldo scored the first bucket of the second half with a driving layup.
Titas Sargiunas scored the next bucket, giving Lipscomb back the lead, when he split the Duke defense for an easy pair.
Lipscomb began to go cold offensively, and Duke took advantage with a 6-0 run to get its lead back out to 56-49.
Charlie Williams stopped the bleeding with a turnaround jump shot in the paint as the Bisons trailed 56-51 at the under-16 media timeout of the second half.
Duke got a little separation before the next media timeout, holding a 64-55 advantage as Lipscomb's shooting dropped to 44% and Duke improved to 52%.
Lipscomb continued to struggle, not scoring for over three minutes, which allowed Duke to push out to a 71-57 advantage before Sargiunas connected on a triple to stop the bleeding.
Another Lipscomb scoring drought saw the Duke lead balloon to 85-64 with five minutes to play. At the final media timeout, the Bisons trailed 87-64.
Lipscomb ultimately fell 97-73 at historic Cameron Indoor Stadium.
HERD NOTES
- Lipscomb forced 22 turnovers, 12 more than Duke's average of 10 a game. The Bisons scored 27 points off turnovers
- No. 3 Duke was the Bisons' highest-ever ranked opponent in the regular season
- The Bisons scored 45 points in the first half, the most points scored on the Blue Devils in a half this season
- Asman led Lipscomb scoring with 18 points. Other double-digit scorers were Esmeraldo (14), Sargiunas (14) and Williams (11)
- Asman led the way with five boards
- The Bisons shot 39% to Duke's 52%
- Lipscomb was outrebounded 55-21
- Kellan Boylan had two blocks on the contest
UP NEXT
Lipscomb will be back in action Saturday, Dec. 20 to welcome Blue Mountain Christian to Allen Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT.
