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3/3/2006 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
Top-Seeded Lipscomb Punches Ticket to A-Sun Title Game
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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Lipscomb logged itself as the first contender for Saturday’s championship game of the 2006 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball Championship.
The Bisons downed Gardner-Webb 70-51 Friday night at Memorial Center in semifinal play.
It wasn’t the two-man scoring show that the Bisons have been putting on the court in recent games. Eddie Ard and Brian Fisk did their parts, but four Lipscomb players scored in double figures and Michael Lusk added nine points. Ard and Fisk still made their presence felt. Held to two points each at halftime, Fisk rallied to finish with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and five steals. Ard tacked on 10 points, eight boards and three steals. Trey Williams and LaKory Daniels also had big games with 13 and 11 points, respectively The Bulldogs (17-13) scored the first two points of the game, but a 16-2 Lipscomb run after that set a tone the Bisons wanted. They played well with the lead and never let upset-minded G-W make a serious run.
Despite trailing by 10-or-more points most of the game, G-W refused to roll over. The Bulldogs just didn’t have enough in the tank to complete their second huge come-from-behind victory in as many days. When Williams hit a driving basket with 6:16 remaining in the opening half Lipscomb led by 15 at 28-13.
The Bulldogs staged a bit of a rally and tried to make it a game heading into halftime. Chris Gash scored seven points in an 11-2 run and the deficit was trimmed to 30-24.
As they would do the whole game, Lipscomb pulled back out into a comfort zone. Daniels sank a 3 and later added another basket to make it 35-24 at the break.
The second half was more of the same. Lipscomb (21-9) extended its lead to 40-24, but G-W whittled away again with an 8-3 run. Gash also paced that charge with five points.
The Bisons were just too good from 3-point range. Fisk made a pair from beyond the arc, while Lusk and Williams hit bombs of their own in a 5:00 span. The lead was back to double-digits and would stay there. The Bisons made 9-of-14 free throws down the stretch to extend the lead and seal their spot in Saturday’s 2 p.m. final (ESPN2).
Gash led the way for the Bulldogs with 15 points and nine boards. Simon Conn added 14 and seven, but struggled from the floor, hitting only 6-of-14 shots. Lipscomb forced all G-W players into tough shooting nights. The Bulldogs made just 19-of-59 shots (30 percent), while the Bisons hit 46 percent.
General Notes
• Lipscomb moved one-step closer to erasing a disturbing trend for No. 1 seeds.
The top-ranked team has not won the A-Sun tournament since 2001. Last year’s
No. 1, Gardner-Webb, lost in the championship game.
• Lipscomb improves to 2-1 in A-Sun tourney games, while G-W drops to 3-2.
• Despite struggles in closing the deal, No. 1 seeds still hold a commanding
advantage in overall record with a 43-16 slate against the field. No. 4 seeds
drop to 15-23.
• Lipscomb had a tourney-low seven turnovers against the Bulldogs. G-W gave
the ball away 14 times.
• This is the first trip the finals for the Bisons. Friday’s game was their first time playing in the semifinals.
• Brian Fisk scored just two points in the first half, but rallied to keep his streak of double-figure scoring intact. He finished with 13 points and extended his school record to 23 games.
• Lipscomb is now 4-0 on neutral courts this season.
• The Bisons are 12-0 when scoring 70 and 10-3 when holding an opponent to less than 70.
Gardner-Webb Notes
• The Bulldogs season ends at 17-12.
• One point was enough. The Bulldogs were 12-0 when holding opponents under
70 points – the exact total Lipscomb rang up on Friday.
• A solid shooting team all year, G-W’s 30 percent shooting effort was considerably
under its season average of 46 percent. The 51 points scored was 19 fewer than
its season average.
