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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lipscomb jumped out a 17-point first-half lead Sunday afternoon and was able to hold off an ACU rally to take a 67-65 win over the Wildcats at Allen Arena in the second game of the in-season home-and-home series between the teams.
The loss snapped ACU’s four-game losing streak as it drops to 7-4 on the season, while the Bisons improve to 8-4. Lipscomb also beat ACU, 75-67, in Abilene on Nov. 20.
The Wildcats had no answer in the first half for the duo of Garrison Mathews (12 points) and Rob Marberry (10 points) as the Bisons built a 25-8 lead with 8:20 left in the first half. The first half – which saw the Wildcats whistled for 13 fouls to just eight for the Bisons and four free throws for ACU and 13 for Lipscomb -- included a technical on ACU head coach Joe Golding and two Lipscomb free throws.
But Payten Ricks scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in the final eight minutes of the half and had a good look at half-court shot at the halftime buzzer as he helped the Wildcats cut the Bisons lead to 32-24 at the break.
After ACU got the lead down to 42-37 with 13:52 to play, Lipscomb answered with a run to push the lead back to 52-41 with 9:54 to play. Marberry capped the run with back-to-back layups.
But ACU answered with a 10-0 run that was kick-started by a 3-pointer from Jaren Lewis and continued with a Lewis steal and Tevin Foster layup, a 3-pointer by Lewis and a tip-in by Foster after a missed by layup by Tevin Foster, who played perhaps his best game as a Wildcat.
Lipscomb never again led by more than five points and ACU had several chances to tie the game. Trailing 63-60, Ricks lined up a 3-pointer that was off the mark. However, Foster punched the ball back out to apparently give ACU another possession and chance to tie the game. However, the official ruled that Foster had illegally used his fist to punch the ball out to Ricks and the ball was turned over to Lipscomb.
The Bisons hit a pair of free throws at the 29-second and 18-second mark to push the lead back to 65-60 with 18 seconds to play. But Ricks got the rebound of a missed free throw and pushed the ball up the floor and hit a running 3-pointer to cut the lead to 65-63 with 14 seconds to play.
Michael Buckland buried two free throws with 10 seconds left before Jalone Friday hit a jumper with 1.4 seconds to play for the final margin.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
• In two games between the teams, Lipscomb shot 51 free throws to 29 for the Wildcats, including a 31-11 advantage in Sunday’s game.
• Lipscomb had a pair of in-season home-and-game series this season, and the Bisons swept both ACU and intra-city rival Belmont for four of their eight wins on the season.
• The win for Lipscomb was its first in Nashville over ACU since an 87-79 win on Dec. 7, 1956.
THEY SAID IT
ACU head coach Joe Golding on the loss …
“We obviously have a lot of respect for Lipscomb and the way they play the game. We fought through a lot of adversity (Sunday) and were able to get back into the game. We were one stop away from maybe having a chance to steal one on the road. We got down by 17 in the first half and came back to make it an eight-point game at halftime, and I told the guys that I was proud of them for getting back into the game.
“Then we made it a one-possession game several times in the second half and had some chances to win. We just couldn’t get that one stop when we needed it. But I was extremely proud of the guys for the way they fought and battled. We’re going to fight; we know that. We had great energy and body language on the floor, our bench was into the game, and we had a great group of alums and fans from the Nashville area that gave us a lot of energy.”
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will play twice this week with the first game set for 7 p.m. Tuesday against Arlington Baptist at Moody Coliseum. ACU will close the non-conference portion of the schedule on Friday, Dec. 22, with a 2 p.m. game against Texas Tech in Lubbock. Both of those games will be broadcast on 98.1 FM.
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The loss snapped ACU’s four-game losing streak as it drops to 7-4 on the season, while the Bisons improve to 8-4. Lipscomb also beat ACU, 75-67, in Abilene on Nov. 20.
The Wildcats had no answer in the first half for the duo of Garrison Mathews (12 points) and Rob Marberry (10 points) as the Bisons built a 25-8 lead with 8:20 left in the first half. The first half – which saw the Wildcats whistled for 13 fouls to just eight for the Bisons and four free throws for ACU and 13 for Lipscomb -- included a technical on ACU head coach Joe Golding and two Lipscomb free throws.
But Payten Ricks scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in the final eight minutes of the half and had a good look at half-court shot at the halftime buzzer as he helped the Wildcats cut the Bisons lead to 32-24 at the break.
After ACU got the lead down to 42-37 with 13:52 to play, Lipscomb answered with a run to push the lead back to 52-41 with 9:54 to play. Marberry capped the run with back-to-back layups.
But ACU answered with a 10-0 run that was kick-started by a 3-pointer from Jaren Lewis and continued with a Lewis steal and Tevin Foster layup, a 3-pointer by Lewis and a tip-in by Foster after a missed by layup by Tevin Foster, who played perhaps his best game as a Wildcat.
Lipscomb never again led by more than five points and ACU had several chances to tie the game. Trailing 63-60, Ricks lined up a 3-pointer that was off the mark. However, Foster punched the ball back out to apparently give ACU another possession and chance to tie the game. However, the official ruled that Foster had illegally used his fist to punch the ball out to Ricks and the ball was turned over to Lipscomb.
The Bisons hit a pair of free throws at the 29-second and 18-second mark to push the lead back to 65-60 with 18 seconds to play. But Ricks got the rebound of a missed free throw and pushed the ball up the floor and hit a running 3-pointer to cut the lead to 65-63 with 14 seconds to play.
Michael Buckland buried two free throws with 10 seconds left before Jalone Friday hit a jumper with 1.4 seconds to play for the final margin.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
• In two games between the teams, Lipscomb shot 51 free throws to 29 for the Wildcats, including a 31-11 advantage in Sunday’s game.
• Lipscomb had a pair of in-season home-and-game series this season, and the Bisons swept both ACU and intra-city rival Belmont for four of their eight wins on the season.
• The win for Lipscomb was its first in Nashville over ACU since an 87-79 win on Dec. 7, 1956.
THEY SAID IT
ACU head coach Joe Golding on the loss …
“We obviously have a lot of respect for Lipscomb and the way they play the game. We fought through a lot of adversity (Sunday) and were able to get back into the game. We were one stop away from maybe having a chance to steal one on the road. We got down by 17 in the first half and came back to make it an eight-point game at halftime, and I told the guys that I was proud of them for getting back into the game.
“Then we made it a one-possession game several times in the second half and had some chances to win. We just couldn’t get that one stop when we needed it. But I was extremely proud of the guys for the way they fought and battled. We’re going to fight; we know that. We had great energy and body language on the floor, our bench was into the game, and we had a great group of alums and fans from the Nashville area that gave us a lot of energy.”
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will play twice this week with the first game set for 7 p.m. Tuesday against Arlington Baptist at Moody Coliseum. ACU will close the non-conference portion of the schedule on Friday, Dec. 22, with a 2 p.m. game against Texas Tech in Lubbock. Both of those games will be broadcast on 98.1 FM.
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