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3/1/2007 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
Lipscomb Runs Away from Mercer in Day's Final Game
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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - No.4 seed Lipscomb erased all memories of a two-game losing streak with an impressive 85-49 route of Mercer in first-round action of the 2007 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Championship in Memorial Center. The Bisons advance to play top-seeded East Tennessee State Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals.
Lipscomb (18-12) exploded in the first half to take charge of the contest. Brian Fisk carried the hot hand in the early going, scoring nine of his team's first 16. He finished with15 in the half and 17 in for the game. Fisk wasn't alone. Trey Williams scored eight of his 11 points in the last 6:00 minutes of the first half and added five assists. Eddie Ard and Michael Lusk had seven each to help the Bisons claim a 47-26 lead at the break. Ard added 10 more in the second half to finish with 17 points and seven rebounds. Lusk ended his night with 10 points and five rebounds. The Bisons starters had retired for the night early and sat for most of the final 15:00 minutes. Coach Scott Sanderson played 15 players and saw 12 score.
The first half also proved that Memorial Center is not Mercer's favorite place to play. The Bears (13-17) fell behind big early and could not get anything going. Outside of five 3-point baskets, Mercer had very little to show for the opening 20 minutes. They had just eight field goals overall in the half. The Bears top two scorers had very little to show for their night. Shaddean Aaron managed 12 points and four boards. Conference leading scorer and freshman of the year James Florence had a tougher go of it. He managed just six points and only had two at the half. Brian Pfohl and Hrjove Pervan had eight each for Mercer.
The game was never really in doubt. Lipscomb jumped out 5-0 on a post up basket by Thomas Pfaff and a 3-pointer from Fisk. The lead jumped to 16-4 and 23-7 before Mercer could put together a couple of made baskets in a row. The Lipscomb lead continued to swell however and was 21 points at the break.
In the second half, the hot-handed Bisons really hit a new level. They hit 58 percent of their field goals for the game. Before missing a couple of tries in the final three minutes, Lipscomb was shooting 65 percent for the game and 75 percent from the floor in the second half.
General Notes
- Lipscomb now leads its series with Mercer 7-4, including 2-0 in tournament
play.
- The game might be considered an upset. In A-Sun history, the No.5 seed holds
a 15-11 advantage against the No.4 team.
- Lipscomb has now won seven straight against the Bears.
Lipscomb Notes
- The
Bisons are now 8-2 when scoring more than 70 points.
- Lipscomb is 11-2 when three or more players score in double figures. Against
the Bears, four players reached that mark.
- Lipscomb is now 2-1 in quarterfinal games. The previous win came last year
when the Bisons reached the championship game.
- Eddie Ard loves the dome. He hit his average of 17 points per game in Memorial
Center.
Mercer Notes
- Memorial Center is clearly not the Bears favorite place to play. The Bears
have up 65 points in the first half and 112 overall to ETSU just days ago, then
surrender 44 in the half and 85 overall to the Bisons in the quarters.
- James Florence had just two first-half points and six overall. It was only
the second time in 26 games he has not scored in double figures.
- Shaddean Aaron continued his streak with 12 points. He's now reached double-figures
in 26 of 28 games this year.
